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Thread: Single diode 3.5-4w !!!

  1. #21
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    Mar 2006
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    One thing to do, when relying on external info is impractical, is to get a Geiger counter and consider the chemistry. Collecting certain chemicals is something lifeforms do, and choosing some particular food for its place of origin combined with the substances it tends to accumulate is a great way to improve your odds of getting a natural sample.

    I don't worry about it much. Bananas are supposed to be a major accumulator of radioactive substances if there are any around. I bought a box once, and realised I had a big opportunity to test because of the sheer volume in a 30 lb box. The Geiger counter was almost depressingly unexcited. If there had been any radioactivity in them I'd have been at more risk from excess of whatever substances they might cause an OD of if I ate too many in a day or two. (I made them last at least ten days).

    I have tried several things, like bits of orange-yellow pottery shards hoping to find uranium based glazes, mutated cabbage leaves in hope that heavy metal concentrations combined with mutations might indicate some rare source found dumped in nature somehow. But the only thing that ever got more than the usual background twitch was a bit of Americium foil from a smoke detector, despite the fact that the UK got rained on by Chernobyl fallout. It's actually not easy to get a concentration of radioactivity. Once a small amount of substance is dispersed over a large area it tends to stay that way. There are isotopes from early bomb tests still in the atmosphere but the dispersion is such that they may be up there for many more decades but in doses so low that we won't notice unless we have the gear needed to detect them.

    Anyway, a cover-up can only work on the assumption that few people ever use a Geiger counter. Maybe they don't, but the reality isn't that they're expensive or hard to get. The reality is that if you do not also buy a radioactive sample the hobby is EXTREMELY boring, about as rewarding as fishing in an empty river.

    EDIT:
    I might feel differently if my basement were on granite rock, but it isn't.. Radon is a natural source anyway, not the result of contamination by human activity. I could buy more samples but that won't help me. I only need one small one to prove a Geiger counter is working. I haven't yet seen it twitch at anything else. I suspect the best shot at gaining a sample is to boil a very large amount of rainwater after collecting it from a flat roof. The dried debris might be radioactive, but most of that could be micrometeorites, and those probably won't be radioactive either.
    Last edited by The_Doctor; 01-11-2014 at 17:15.

  2. #22
    Join Date
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    Stiffler.... I do agree with your statement about the sun and wind. The thing is, the Fukashima plant would have been fine if they had built it correctly. GE called for the backup generators to be in a pit, in the ground. The initial builders wanted to position the generators well above ground because the plant was in a tsunami trough and the generators could potentially be flooded. The master builder opted to go with GE's plans. The rest is history. Most of the reactors are self-posioning now. This prevents minor incidents from causing major ones. Unfortunately, the earthquake and tsunami wer a major incident and because of the flaw in the plant design, we had a disaster. Chernobyl was built wrong too. I still think, if properly built, nuclear is a very viable option. We just need to ensure that these plants are built correctly. These plants are built by the lowest bidder and contractors cut corners. I think that is what leads to most of the causes of structural disasters. But yes, the Sun puts out more than we could ever use. The big problem is trying to capture that energy without pissing off the tree huggers. That and, if I am not mistaken, solar panels still cost more, in energy, to make than they put out.... for now.
    If you're the smartest person in the room, then you're in the wrong room.

  3. #23
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    Yep, if solar panels could just be a little more efficient and the battery storage for them could be a little more .. / .. well .. fast-forward to the technology 20-30 years from now ..

  4. #24
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    Steve,

    That is what I think will happen. With the current advances in solar cell and battery technology it might be as much as 30 years, but I think it will be less and we will have solar power that is VERY CHEAP. The problem with nuclear is that even with current technology as opposed to yesterday's, the legacy with the contamination is thousands of years. Personally, I think the whole global warming advocacy is bull shit, but even if it wasn't why not wait on the clean solar alternative with less dangerous fossil fuels in the mean time?

  5. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by planters View Post
    Steve,
    Personally, I think the whole global warming advocacy is bull shit, but even if it wasn't why not wait on the clean solar alternative with less dangerous fossil fuels in the mean time?
    If clean energy sources were equal in cost or cheaper, were reliable and abundant I don't think anyone would disagree with that as long as it is not done by making other legacy fuels so expensive via regulation/tax that clean energy looks cheap.

  6. #26
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    Jul 2010
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    Check out equity solar. they claim to have a chemical that can make the silicon pv cells at room temperature. I didn't read to much about it but it seems promising as it greatly cuts down on the cost of manufacturing while increasing efficiency by a percent or so

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