Thursday, August 04, 2011

get a permit before firing up that reactor in your kitchen

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/man-arrested-for-trying-to-split-atoms--in-his-kitchen-20110804-1ic8h.html

Man arrested for trying to split atoms - in his kitchen
August 4, 2011 - 7:29AM

A Swedish man who was arrested after trying to split atoms in his kitchen said he was only doing it as a hobby.

Richard Handl said he had the radioactive elements radium, americium and uranium in his apartment in southern Sweden when police showed up and arrested him on charges of unauthorised possession of nuclear material.

The 31-year-old Handl said he had tried for months to set up a nuclear reactor at home and kept a blog about his experiments, describing how he created a small meltdown on his stove.
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Only later did he realise it might not be legal and sent a question to Sweden's Radiation Authority, which answered by sending the police.

"I have always been interested in physics and chemistry," Handl said, adding he just wanted to "see if it's possible to split atoms at home".

The police raid took place in late July, but police have refused to comment. If convicted, Handl could face fines or up to two years in prison.

Although he says police didn't detect dangerous levels of radiation in his apartment, he now acknowledges the project wasn't such a good idea.

"From now on, I will stick to the theory," he said.

AP

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Is Hell Dead ?

This was the cover of Time magazine for Holy Week this year, and I'm finally catching up to reading it.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2065289,00.html

What is hell, anyway, and what is heaven?   Rob Bell explores the possibility that all will eventually make it into heaven.  Many opinions on this, just google "is hell dead, Rob Bell".

Reminds me of the "what do you believe" on http://www.beliefnet.com/ that matches your beliefs to recognized entities with the "Belief-o-Matic" http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx  to determine (or verify).

There is even a joke section "A Recently Spotted Bumper Sticker:  "What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?"",  then "Q: What do you call a dead atheist?    A: Someone all dressed up with nowhere to go!"