[Leica] [was] Another Altered Photo / now WAY OT

[hoppyman at bigpond.net.au (G Hopkinson)]

Adam, t'was meant to be a slightly light-hearted point not a literal figure.

Hence scientific phrases such as "VERY bad juju". 
 
Just wrote the note off the top of my head, since Don seemed interested. It
would be reasonable to agree that it is very unhealthy should you
internalise it, for a very long time.
No agendas involved except I was very OT;-).

Cheers
Hoppy

-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+hoppyman=bigpond.net.au@leica-users.org
[mailto:lug-bounces+hoppyman=bigpond.net.au@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of
Adam Bridge
Sent: Wednesday, 9 August 2006 02:33
To: Leica Users Group
Subject: Re: RE: [Leica] [was] Another Altered Photo / now WAY OT

Sigh - not BILLION years. Geesh. Come on guys at least TRY to get some
half-life information correct.

Here's a Wikipedia article on Deplete Uranium. You can search for more
inflammatory or more sanguine articles with Google or your search
engine of choice.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium>

As a beta emitter U-238's decay chain isn't too bad since, as long as
it's external to the body your skin will block the high-energy
electrons emitted. Taken internally, however, it's more problamatical
but not nearly as nasty as the alpha-emitters whose high-energy helium
nuclii can do serious damage. (The most common source of alpha
emission is radon gas which is a naturally occuring decay product
found from a variety of natural sources, not to mention the decay
chains of fission products. In areas with lots of granite, for
instance, having a radon detector in your home would make a lot of
sense.)

Adam

On 8/8/06, G Hopkinson <hoppyman@bigpond.net.au> wrote:
> Hang on Don.
> This projectile has no magic burning through properties. It's all about
> density vs cross section. Add that to high velocity and you have enormous
> kinetic energy in the penetrator. The projectile will shed mass after
> penetrating, plus the armour itself will add to the stream. It is also
> pyrophoric so you would expect catastrophic heat along with the shrapnel
and
> spalled armour. An extremely lethal shower of very hot sharp material.
> Regarding the radiation, it may be relatively benign to handle as you
noted,
> but the dust particles from a round impact are VERY bad juju should you
> inhale them. That would be the least of your problems if you were sitting
> within the target. Visiting it later would not be recommended either. It
may
> well be very toxic within the next few billion years or so.
> Regarding the chain gun, it is a different but allied design to the rotary
> barrel "gatling" designs. The principle benefits are simplicity and
extreme
> reliability.
>
> Cheers
> Hoppy Gunny and M9 Guy
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: lug-bounces+hoppyman=bigpond.net.au@leica-users.org
> [mailto:lug-bounces+hoppyman=bigpond.net.au@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of
> Don Dory
> Sent: Tuesday, 8 August 2006 12:59
> To: Leica Users Group
> Subject: Re: [Leica] [was] Another Altered Photo / now WAY OT
>
> Jerry,
> >From a military perspective, depleted uranium is almost irresistable as
an
> anti-amour round.  The uranium literally burns through armour without the
> extreme kinetic energy generally required.  Thus a 30mm chain gun can
become
> a heavy tank killer.  The military will not stop using it as it works too
> well.  As I understand the spent rounds are primarily a Beta emitter so
not
> that hazardous as radioactive things go.
>
> Don
> don.dory@gmail.com
>
>