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RE: Information on lamp mantle on "THE STRAIGHT DOPE 12/05/2003"
Tosh and other radsafers
Somemore background on the subject.
Thorium in mantles is well known. It used to be in all mantles produced in
North America, and radioactive mantles can still be purchased in some
countries.
I assisted in cleaning up the Coleman Mantle Facility in Toronto several
decades ago when thoriated mantles could no longer be sold in Canada.
I know HP's who have kept a supply of thoriated mantles to use as "check"
sources.
John
_________________
John R Johnson, Ph.D.
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President, IDIAS, Inc
4535 West 9-Th Ave
Vancouver B. C.
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or most mornings
Consultant in Radiation Protection
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-----Original Message-----
From: owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu
[mailto:owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu]On Behalf Of Tosh Ushino
Sent: December 5, 2003 9:39 AM
To: radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu
Subject: Information on lamp mantle on "THE STRAIGHT DOPE 12/05/2003"
Radsafers,
I just received this issue of "THE STRAIGHT DOPE
12/05/2003." There is a discussion of lamp mantle you
might find interesting.
Have a nice weekend.
Tosh Ushino
Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc.
------------------
THE STRAIGHT DOPE 12/05/2003
Dear Cecil:
My wife is about to take a group of Girl Scouts
camping and needed a propane lantern. When I went to
install the wicks, a warning label informed me that
the wicks were radioactive. Being a nuclear medicine
tech, I had access to a Geiger counter, and brother,
they weren't kidding. Is Saddam taking his vengeance
by slowly wiping out campers in this country? What
gives? --Rick Stobaugh, Memphis, Tennessee
~~~~~~
Looking for the perfect gift for that wedding,
birthday, or bar mitzvah? Straight Dope books are the
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Cecil replies:
Life is full of little surprises, isn't it? Your wife
was probably looking forward to a night under the
stars, far from the worries and threats of modern
society. Now she finds out that the camp lantern
hissing cheerfully on the picnic table is pumping out
alpha particles. Makes one long for the good old days,
when all a Girl Scout had to worry about was poison
ivy and curious bears.
But you know what? Radioactive lantern wicks aren't a
modern threat.
For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/031205.html
STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 05/05/1978
Dear Straight Dope:
On a recent pilgrimage to Troy Grove, Illinois to
visit the home of Wild Bill Hickok, one of our company
happened to mention that according to legend Wild Bill
was shot while holding "black aces and eights." This
hand has come to be known as the "dead man's hand." Is
the story apocryphal, and if it is true, what was the
fifth card in Wild Bill's hand? --Larry N., Chicago
Dear Larry:
You've settled on one of the few bits of Western lore
that has some basis in fact. Wild Bill was indeed
holding black aces and eights when he was plugged by
Jack McCall on the fateful day of August 2, 1876, in
the charming suburb of Deadwood, deep in the Dakota
Territory. Bill's fifth card was the deuce of spades,
which must have made for a pretty grim-looking hand.
I'm surprised he didn't commit suicide.
For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_307.html
STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 09/28/1979
Dear Cecil:
I'm a rabid baseball fan, and often my friends depend
upon me to provide the wisdom from on high when it
comes to the grand old game. But the one thing people
invariably ask is: "Why is the shortstop called the
shortstop? I get all the other ones, but that's the
weird one!" I've got enough problems with self-esteem
as it is, and I don't need it undercut any further by
not being able to answer that question. I look to you
for the answer. I promise to credit you every time I
repeat your reply. --Curt L., Los Angeles
Dear Curt:
That's the spirit. The origin of the word "shortstop"
appears to have been lost in the mists of antiquity,
but the absence of the facts has never prevented me
from making something up, and the present case is no
exception. I have here a Currier & Ives lithograph
that purports to depict the first officially recorded
baseball game, which occurred on or about June 19,
1846, in Hoboken, New Jersey, between the
Knickerbockers and the New York Nine. Notwithstanding
the fact that the Knickerbockers had made up the
rules, they lost. Not what you would call a team of
destiny.
For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_299b.html
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