[extropy-chat] Stupid luddites oppose home cyclotrons...

[Adrian Tymes]

--- Robert Bradbury <robert.bradbury at gmail.com> wrote:
> I won't make bets, but I'll buy a drink or two at the next Extro/WTA
> conference I attend for the person who explains *why* one needs
> gadolinium-148. :-;

It's an alpha particle emitter with a 75 year half-life.  Pretty
stable, among radioactive elements.  There are, of course,
numerous applications for alpha particles, this being one of the
long-studied forms of radiation.

That said, on first glance, I can forgive the luddites for being
nervous about their neighbor wanting to work with highly
radioactive (and, I believe, legislatively controlled) substances
in a home (and therefore probably not thoroughly protected)
environment.  Playing around with radioactives without proper
precautions is just begging for trouble - and the worst case
could well wind up poisoning the neighbors, so even the strongest
libertarians among them would have cause for concern.