WHAT CONNECTS...
...GAS STREET LIGHTING
AND NUCLEAR POWER?
1.
In 1885, Austrian scientist
Carl Auer von Welsbach
invented a new form of gas
lighting which produced
a much brighter light than
the ordinary flame lamps
used before.2.
The lamps introduced by von
Welsbach surrounded the
flame with a thorium oxide
mantle. Thorium oxide has
a 3,300ºC melting point, which
lets the mantle glow white hot
without melting away.3.
Unfortunately, thorium
is also radioactive and
decays to radon-220,
which is also radioac-
tive. Using a thorium
gas lamp isn’t dangerous,
but old gas mantle factory sites have
problems with contamination.4.
For nuclear reactors,
thorium is a safer
alternative to uranium or
plutonium.Thorium can’t
be weaponised, and its
high melting point makes
it less prone to
catastrophic meltdown.The ‘mine kafon’
detonates mines as it is
blown around by the windWhy is space
three-dimensional?
In principle, it’s possible for the Universe to
have many more space dimensions; some
attempts to explain the fundamental forces of
nature assume no fewer than six extra ones.
Yet for reasons still unclear, any additional
dimensions that may have existed at the
Big Bang somehow failed to take part in the
cosmic expansion and remained far smaller
than the three dimensions we inhabit. What is
certain is that, had they grown in size, the
Universe would be a very different place.
Theoreticians have shown that any extra
dimensions would make atoms unstable, while
any fewer would eliminate the force of gravity.
Max Tegmark, a cosmologist at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the
USA, has gone further, arguing that the very
fact we exist to ask about extra dimensions of
space proves they don’t exist. RMDoes chicken soup
really help a cold?
There is some evidence for this. Several studies
have found that something in chicken soup
interferes with the ability of white blood cells to
flock to the scene of an infection. Since these
white blood cells are responsible for
the inflammation of your throat
and sinuses, chicken soup
may help to relieve
the symptoms, even if it
doesn’t actually cure the
infection. LV
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