# The Radioactive Boyscout isn't looking too good. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 6, 2007, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boyscout-isnt-looking-too-good/414668 "2007-08-06T20:06:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boyscout-isnt-looking-too-good/414668/1 "2007-08-06T20:06:54Z")
[This guy](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,292111,00.html) can’t seem to get enough radiation, even going to the extreme of stealing smoke detectors for radioactive material. At least he got his merit badge for nuclear energy. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boyscout-isnt-looking-too-good/414668/2 "2007-08-06T20:09:56Z")
[QUOTE=dnooman] [This guy](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,292111,00.html) can’t seem to get enough radiation, even going to the extreme of stealing smoke detectors for radioactive material. At least he got his merit badge for nuclear energy. [/QUOTE] Yikes! ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boyscout-isnt-looking-too-good/414668/3 "2007-08-06T20:20:07Z")
A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and irradiated. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boyscout-isnt-looking-too-good/414668/4 "2007-08-06T20:25:37Z")
Who the hell wants to be the gamma male? ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boyscout-isnt-looking-too-good/414668/5 "2007-08-06T20:41:36Z")
The hell happened to the guys face? ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boyscout-isnt-looking-too-good/414668/6 "2007-08-06T20:42:24Z")
Yeesh, he looks like he’s been grouse hunting with Cheney! ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boyscout-isnt-looking-too-good/414668/7 "2007-08-06T20:48:06Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist] A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and irradiated. [/QUOTE] Clean, yes. But Sterile…? :dubious: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boyscout-isnt-looking-too-good/414668/8 "2007-08-06T21:00:05Z")
[QUOTE=Uncommon Sense] The hell happened to the guys face? [/QUOTE] “Police say that Hahn’s face was covered with open sores, possibly from constant exposure to radioactive materials.” Sounds like he was just smart enough to know what radioactivity was, but somehow not smart enough to know that you shouldn’t fuck around with radioactive materials if you don’t know what you’re doing. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boyscout-isnt-looking-too-good/414668/9 "2007-08-06T21:04:48Z")
Next headline: Radioactive Boy Scout Turns Invisible and Flies Out of Custody ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boyscout-isnt-looking-too-good/414668/10 "2007-08-06T21:09:43Z")
What a dummy. $5000 fine and jail time for stealing about $150 worth of smoke detectors? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boyscout-isnt-looking-too-good/414668/11 "2007-08-06T21:13:09Z")
[QUOTE=gotpasswords] What a dummy. $5000 fine and jail time for stealing about $150 worth of smoke detectors? [/QUOTE] Especially since he got his first batch for free… ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boyscout-isnt-looking-too-good/414668/12 "2007-08-06T21:16:26Z")
I expect the goggles did nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boyscout-isnt-looking-too-good/414668/13 "2007-08-06T21:19:15Z")
Someone needs to sit this lad down and explain, “Dude, you’re not going to get super powers or incredible strength from exposure to radiation.” As I recall, there is a poster here who purportedly served on-board a Navy nuclear-powered surface vessel with Hahn. Hahn was spinning some tale about not being able to enter the engineering spaces because of his lifetime exposure limits, but the true reason seemed to be more on the order of that he was too much of an idiot to trust with anything more dangerous than a plastic Slinky. Or to quote Larry Niven: “Think of it as evolution in action. Average human intelligence goes up a fraction of a percent.” Stranger ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boyscout-isnt-looking-too-good/414668/14 "2007-08-06T21:21:32Z")
[QUOTE=gotpasswords] What a dummy. $5000 fine and jail time for stealing about $150 worth of smoke detectors? [/QUOTE] They’re phasing out the ones with americium in them. Might be hard to buy them, easier to steal them. You would think the guy would get a clue as to the problem with his hobbies every time he looks in the fucking mirror, though. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boyscout-isnt-looking-too-good/414668/15 "2007-08-06T21:49:58Z")
Dude, everything about that guy, from the harebrained project to the skin to the look on his face, screams **METH**. :eek: ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boyscout-isnt-looking-too-good/414668/16 "2007-08-06T22:08:27Z")
Dumb he may be. But to me, the story just yelled “obsessive compulsive, possibly with a suicidal component.” ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boyscout-isnt-looking-too-good/414668/17 "2007-08-06T22:46:15Z")
Smoke detectors have nuclear components? ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boyscout-isnt-looking-too-good/414668/18 "2007-08-06T22:50:00Z")
[QUOTE=teela brown] Smoke detectors have nuclear components? [/QUOTE] > [@](#): > > Take, for example, a household smoke detector. More than 80% of the standard smoke detectors in the US contain an amount of americium-241, a radioactive element with a half life of 432 years. It is the americium-241 that allows the contraption to work. Air flows into an ionization chamber that is pretty much two sheets charged of metal—one positive, one negative—and a little pathway for radiation to enter. The alpha radiation from the americium-241 interacts with the normal oxygen and nitrogen in the air by knocking an electron off the molecule. The results were, of course, a positive ion of the original atom of gas is attracted to the negatively charged plate, and an electron is drawn to the positively charged plate. The smoke detector detects the plates interacting with these particles. Smoke, however, will absorb the ions before they reach the plates, and will set off the alarms. From [here](http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=340). ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boyscout-isnt-looking-too-good/414668/19 "2007-08-06T22:52:33Z")
[QUOTE=teela brown] Smoke detectors have nuclear components? [/QUOTE] I’m as shocked as you. This guy needs to lay off the giggle juice and find some old lady to walk across the street. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2007, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boyscout-isnt-looking-too-good/414668/20 "2007-08-07T00:21:55Z")
I’m sure he got glowing recommendations from his last employer. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boyscout-isnt-looking-too-good/414668.md?page=2)