
Swedish man caught trying to split atoms at home - danso
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_SWEDEN_NUCLEAR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-08-03-11-33-45
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steven_h
As a chemistry major, I've honestly seen stupider things allowed to happen in
a _supposedly supervised_ laboratory than what this guy was doing.

Was it wrong that he was doing it in his apartment, putting all the other
tenants at risk? Absolutely, but I don't think he should be put in jail, just
reprimanded and told where to perform experiments in a safe environment. Who
knows, maybe his experiment would have worked w/o all the cigarette smoke and
ash.

The only reason I post this comment is because this guy is exhibiting the
hacker spirit that we all do, just in a physical science instead of computer
science. I would be upset if someone told me not to play with data structures
they way they won't let him play with chemicals. (Again, I know its not the
same thing in practice but it's the principle.)

~~~
zasz
When the practice involves potentially killing yourself and poisoning other
people, the principle would seem to be not the same.

~~~
steven_h
I totally agree but that would be the in the implementation; the principle is
an abstract idea, [1] such as the principles of modern physics.

I know it seems nit-picky but as someone with an interest in chemistry and
comp sci, and a degree in both, I can appreciate the curiosity that comes with
science. It's what encouraged me to study the science.

[1] <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/principle>

~~~
catshirt
the difference in principle is that some kinds of curiosity are _potentially
fatal_

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alecco
Before you jump into "poor guy" mode, please have a look at his blog:

[http://richardsreactor.blogspot.com/2011/05/110521-meltdown....](http://richardsreactor.blogspot.com/2011/05/110521-meltdown.html)

I'm all for freedom and the scientific spirit, but this guy was out of control
and risking the health of people around him.

~~~
gamble
Honestly, it's a good thing he was stopped. He's contaminated his _cooking
area_ with radium and beryllium. Is someone that sloppy really going to strip
that room down to studs to decontaminate it, or is he going to leave it to
poison the next tenants in his flat?

~~~
dsl
Thank you for providing a fantastic example of how people overreact when it
comes to radiation. They tested the apartment when the police arrested him and
found no dangerous levels of radiation, which means he knew to limit the scale
of his experiments to what was safe.

~~~
gamble
Read his blog. He admits to contaminating his stove and the surrounding area
with americium, radium, and beryllium. Or just look at the accompanying
photograph. This is not a man who knows how to conduct experiments safely.

I'd say that if he didn't actually contaminate his kitchen, it's only because
he was too incompetent to carry out the reactions properly.

~~~
InclinedPlane
That's my take too. He was stopped before he got very far. With a sufficient
quantity of radium and beryllium he could have done some amazing damage.

~~~
lutorm
I stopped someone driving by my house just now, luckily before he got very
far. With that mass and sufficient speed, he _could_ have done some amazing
damage...

~~~
InclinedPlane
We seem to have indications that he was planning on continuing to scale up. If
a car had been accelerating toward your house and crashed into a concrete
barrier instead that might be a better analogy.

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zacharycohn
It's unfortunate that when he requested more information on the legality of
his situation, instead of reaching out to him and informing him he wasn't
supposed to have this material and working with him to dispose of it, they
sent the police. It seems like an overreaction, especially considering HE
reached out to THEM.

~~~
Andrew_Quentin
That is why you contact a lawyer who usually are under implied confidentiality
clauses.

~~~
zacharycohn
I suppose. But it makes a lot of sense to contact the organization who's job
it is is to manage the stuff, rather than tracking down a lawyer who
specializes in radioactive materials law.

~~~
tansey
It makes a lot more sense to contact the organization _before_ you start
conducting potentially-dangerous experiments.

~~~
lutorm
hindsight is always 20/20.

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mynameishere
Obligatory, if you are new to the internet; the radioactive boyscout:

<http://www.dangerouslaboratories.org/radscout.html>

~~~
rglover
Never read that before, but wow. Scary to think what people can accomplish at
home with a few books and a bit of social engineering. I'm guessing David
was/is a fringe case, but regardless, the parent story here shows it's not as
difficult as one might think. The spooky part: David's home was a short 40
minute drive from my own home in Ohio. Ack.

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sliceof314
I love how he's doing it in his apartment kitchen. Not his house located in an
isolated forest, but an apartment building....

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pavel_lishin
See also: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hahn>

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sliverstorm
Tritium on his keychain? Ergo placed in his pocket? This guy has no fear of
radiation whatsoever.

~~~
uvdiv
It's a novelty item, the point is it makes it easy to find in the dark:

[http://unitednuclear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info...](http://unitednuclear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_8&products_id=480&zenid=7ddf26f4c1762f9b460df47a5721a853)

Seems benign to me, since beta radiation won't penetrate the glass.

See also <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritium_illumination>

~~~
sliverstorm
Oh! There we go, of course- it's encased in glass. I forgot about that when I
was thinking about skin vs beta. Thank you for clearing that up.

------
jaekwon
how long before a man gets caught flying to the moon?

~~~
Symmetry
Not too long: <http://dvice.com/archives/2011/06/first-test-of-d.php> But
they're thoughtful enough to do their launches off in the ocean, where an
accident won't kill bystanders.

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seagaia
Poor guy. Someone should give him a chance at a lab or something.

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lutorm
As someone who experimented pretty freely with science at home as a teenager,
I'm perturbed by the over-reacting and jumping to conclusions associated with
"science-based hacking" shown here. Just because you do things that has the
_potential_ to do damage doesn't mean that you have the intent to or that you
will. Pretty much anything can do damage if you want it to; just because I
have a baseball bat doesn't mean that I will hit someone with it. There are
things that _really_ kill people in our society, chiefly cars and guns. Having
those are mostly legal, but doing experiments on your stove: dangerous, must
be stopped. Some attention to proportion is called for.

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pizza
<http://www.unitednuclear.com/>

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ConceitedCode
Does anybody have the link the blog? Seems like it'd be an interesting read.

~~~
codeswimmer
<http://richardsreactor.blogspot.com/>

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flarg
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14403432>

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paulnelligan
never has the expression 'don't try this at home' been more appropriate!

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badusername
LOL

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lowglow
A century ago they were called revolutionaries, today we call them criminals.

~~~
daimyoyo
A century ago, we didn't realize that radiation is lethal. They didn't arrest
him for making science, they arrested him for having dangerous materials
without the proper safety equipment.

~~~
kls
Right, I am usually very anti-regulations for most all things. But there are
some things that are so obviously a public safety issue that regulation is a
no brainier. But it does beg the question, should their be a safe outlet for
people like this to pursue their intellectual curiosity without having to pay
100k to a university.

~~~
kirubakaran
Not trying to be a dick, but I thought you'd want to know
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question>

~~~
pyre
It's more helpful just to say

    
    
      s/begs the question/raises the question/
    

In most cases, that's what is really meant.

