Re: A radiochemical anecdote

[Mark Sylvester <msylvest@XNET.IT>]

Leigh's anecdote reminds me of the cleanest half-life data I ever managed
to get in a school lab. A colleague in the Bio dept had an infant (now a
thriving 10-year-old) with a metabolic disorder that was being diagnosed by
means of a radioactive tracer. We in the physics lab obtained a
urine-soaked diaper which was emitting what I think I recall were X-rays
from an electron capture process at a "healthy" rate. This was left
undisturbed in front of a GM tube for some weeks while we took daily
measurements of the count-rate - the half-life was about 2 weeks (my memory
could be at fault here).

Mark.

At 10:06 21/08/02 -0400, Leigh Palmer wrote:
> The Yucca Mountain discussion moves me to reminisce (from Massachusetts
> today).
>
> Back in 1960 I was a grad student at Cal and my wife was expecting
> our first child. Evelyn was at that time a radiochemist working at
> the Crocker radiation laboratory on campus...

Mark Sylvester
UWCAd
Duino Trieste Italy