thunderboltsidFeb 7, 2023
Jonty Wareing

Favourite thing I've learned in 2023: Rosenthaler Platz U-Bahn station in Berlin is entirely decorated with radioactive uranium glazed tiles.

@gigabecquerel visited with a geiger counter to check.

https://chaos.social/@gigabecquerel/109818433760462038

gigabecquerel (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 video The whole fucking station is uranium glazed??? That must be tens of kg of uranium! Hot damn I almost didn't want to leave Edit: Fuck sake there are so many armchair experts here. NO, this is NOT dangerous! Radiation is all around you and so far you have done just fine surviving that. It's a nice color and an interesting historical fact, and that's all there's to it.

chaos.social
Feb 6, 2023 at 3:44pmWeb
Show threadJonty WareingFeb 7, 2023

If you liked this, you may also like the General Electric Lightning Laboratory ...which is under threat due to imminent demolition ⚡️🚧

If you can, please donate to help rescue the equipment - some of which was demonstrated at the 1939 World's Fair.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/Saving-GE-Lightning-Laboratory

Show threadrobinhoustonFeb 8, 2023
@jonty I found this amazing description of the General Electric lightning show at the 1939 New York World's Fair. https://www.1939nyworldsfair.com/Ponderings/General_Electric.aspx
General Electric

Show threadrobinhoustonFeb 8, 2023
@jonty Why don't we have indoor lightning shows any more? What would it take to mount a lightning show at, say, EMF camp?
Show threadJonty WareingFeb 8, 2023
@robinhouston I've been trying to arrange it for years and it's just never worked out!
Show threadmikechislettFeb 8, 2023
@jonty @robinhouston will Nottingham gaussfest suffice?
Show threadJonty WareingFeb 8, 2023
@mikechislett @robinhouston There's also often a teslathon in Cambridge https://www.teslacoiling.co.uk/eventspage/
Events | UK Tesla Coiling

Show threadrobinhoustonFeb 8, 2023
@jonty @mikechislett This is great! I had no idea these events existed.
Show threadMatthewWilkesFeb 6, 2023
@jonty WHAT?
Show threadKaterina MarchánFeb 6, 2023
/cc @aki 😅
Show threadAki the Conqueror 🦓Feb 6, 2023
@zkat Jesus and I thought the Americans were ruthless in their adversarial design practices
Show threadposiputtFeb 6, 2023
@jonty radioactivity is in the air for you and me
Show threadAndreas ☎️6501Feb 6, 2023
@posiputt @jonty Radioaktivität - für dich und mich im All entsteht! *didaadit* *didaa* *daadidit*...
Show threadAnthony SteeleFeb 6, 2023

@jonty @gigabecquerel

Oh, what's the Geiger counter style device that you are using? If it's affordable and easy for a layman to use then I might be interested.

Show threadgigabecquerelFeb 6, 2023
@anthony_steele @jonty It's the RKS 20.03 "Pripyat", used to be <100€ on ebay, but prices are exploding in the last few years.
It's a very good devices, measures accurately, you only have to figure out the cyrilic instructions in the front ;-)
It's my first ever geiger counter, and still my daily runner for most stuff, it just works great
Show threadAnthony SteeleFeb 6, 2023

@gigabecquerel @jonty

Seems to be about £150 on ebay now. and there are instruction videos on youtube.

Show threadmsgbiFeb 7, 2023
@gigabecquerel @anthony_steele @jonty @charles_ex @aloa5 election. Whole thing
Show threadbit101Feb 6, 2023
@jonty @gigabecquerel this is fine.
Show threadlittlebigfredFeb 6, 2023

@jonty @gigabecquerel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_XVRA5nD6M

Radiation from a banana measured using a Geiger counter

YouTube
Show threadbigiainFeb 13, 2023

@littlebigfred @jonty @gigabecquerel No numbers! I wanted solid banana radiation dose numbers.

Here's a standard Australian grocery store banana (measured using an inexpensive phone dongle geiger counter of very uncertain accuracy): https://flic.kr/p/2mAxQNY
Came in a 0.34uSv/Hr - so that wall tile is about 32 of my bananas worth of radiation. Wikipedia's "banana equivalent does" is smaller, and that tile is about 110 banana equivalents according to their numbers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_equivalent_dose

Geiger Counter - banana for scale

Flickr
Show threadgigabecquerelFeb 13, 2023
@bigiain @littlebigfred @jonty Your granite plate will be 1000s of times more radioactive than the banana
Show threadDreamingInNKYFeb 6, 2023

@jonty It's more common than you may realize.

https://www.thoughtco.com/how-radioactive-is-fiesta-ware-608648#:~:text=Some%20Fiesta%20Ware%20and%20certain,pottery%20is%20chipped%20or%20cracked.

How Radioactive Is Fiesta Ware?

Old Fiesta dinnerware was made using radioactive glazes. Explore just how radioactive the dishes are today and whether they are dangerous.

ThoughtCo
Show threadKrupoFeb 6, 2023

Most bizarre TIL of the year for me.... @carlamaureen look

@jonty @gigabecquerel

Show threadKevin Karhan Feb 6, 2023

@jonty @gigabecquerel guess what: Fiestaware is pretty safe as long as said tiles and their glaze is intact.

And yes that ain't the only station I know of...

Show threadAdmiral Cyberspace✅Feb 6, 2023
@jonty @gigabecquerel maybe the light doesn't power up with electricity.
Show threadEsther  🌱🐾🍋 #fcknzsFeb 6, 2023
@jonty @gigabecquerel 😳
Show threadCodexNotFoundFeb 6, 2023
@jonty @gigabecquerel this seems like it could be a Tom Scott video?
Show threadJason Nabein (Old Account!!!)Feb 17, 2023
@CodexNotFound @jonty @gigabecquerel I'm here in Berlin, getting blasted with radioactive dosages for science.
Show threadMarco PfatschbacherFeb 6, 2023
@jonty @gigabecquerel not great, not terrible
Show threadPatty KimuraFeb 6, 2023
@jonty @gigabecquerel What unit of measure? 10 microSieverts is normal background radiation. 40 is a plane trip. 100 is a dental xray. 3,000 is a mammogram. 50,000 is the max allowable annual occupational dose.
Show threadgigabecquerelFeb 6, 2023
@pattykimura @jonty .... no?
Show threadhot tran*sexual menaceFeb 6, 2023
@pattykimura @jonty @gigabecquerel it's a Geiger counter it measures "ionizing radiation" as activity in "counts/events per second" passing thru the area of the sensor tube. You gotta know what radiation you're actually counting to make an estimate for the energy dosage and then also take the larger volume of a human into account and also the absorption coefficient for "the energy" of the radiation. It's not entirely trivial. Better devices can probably offer a rough guess which is somewhat in the ballpark of the correct order of magnitude. My guess is that it's probably not terribly much as long as one doesn't live next to those tiles.
Show threadPatty KimuraFeb 7, 2023
@missqarnstein @jonty @gigabecquerel My brother was (retired) Director of Radiological Controls for a US military site. We are the grandchildren of a woman who died at Hiroshima. Our forebears are from Fukushima. I'm afraid of a number of things, including heights and salamanders, I'm not afraid of subway tiles.
Show threadSillyNameFeb 6, 2023
@jonty @gigabecquerel Vans Off The Wall
Show threadlayer8Feb 6, 2023
@gigabecquerel @jonty don’t lick the walls 🥸
Show threadTextzickeFeb 6, 2023
@jonty @gigabecquerel What the HELL?! 😳
Show threadInsertUserFeb 6, 2023

@jonty @gigabecquerel ooh, next time take a UV torch, maybe they'll glow?

https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vasline_glass_glowing.jpg

File:Vasline glass glowing.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

Show threaddbFeb 6, 2023
@jonty @gigabecquerel
Quelle est l'unité de mesure ?
S'il s'agit du Bq ce n'est rien : on est à plus de 1 000 Bq en Bretagne à cause du radon.
db
Show threadmidorFeb 6, 2023
@jonty @gigabecquerel https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_tile
Uranium tile - Wikipedia

Show threadMartinFeb 6, 2023
@jonty @gigabecquerel Ah, that's why the mobile reception is so bad there. 😀
Show threadJP RobertsFeb 7, 2023

@jonty

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Background_radiation

Background radiation - Wikipedia

Show threadDagnabbit, Pascaline! 💥Feb 7, 2023

@jonty @gigabecquerel
Radiation is natural, but its effects depend on how you use it.

https://www.orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/consumer/

Radioactive Consumer Products

Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity
Show threadrstevens 🐳💨✅Feb 7, 2023
@jonty whoa, attention @debcha
Show threadDeb ChachraFeb 7, 2023
@rstevens @jonty holy crap
Show thread_maleficentgirlFeb 7, 2023
@jonty @gigabecquerel @AndiBarth NopeNopeNopeNopeNopeNopeNopeNopeNopeNopeNopeNope so much Nope
Show threadDarkDabulaFeb 7, 2023
@jonty @gigabecquerel Ummm ... "great" ?
Show threadhugo royFeb 7, 2023
@jonty @gigabecquerel Huh???
Show threadfraenckoFeb 7, 2023

@jonty @gigabecquerel

Tagesspiegel von 2007:
„Der U-Bahnhof Rosenthaler Platz rückte wegen seiner vielen orangefarbenen Kacheln ins Visier der [Berliner Strahlenmessstelle]. ‚Die Farbe wird mit dem Schwermetall Uran hergestellt, weil es beim Brennvorgang sehr hitzebeständig ist‘, sagt Leps. Die Strahlung ist laut dem Experten jedoch belanglos. Auch für Menschen, die sich länger auf dem U-Bahnhof aufhalten, besteht keine Gefahr.“

https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/bleibende-werte-1545553.html

Berlin: Bleibende Werte

Wie stark strahlen Pilze? Wer es wissen will, muss zur Strahlenmessstelle

Der Tagesspiegel
Show threadericeitelFeb 7, 2023
@jonty @gigabecquerel die Ecke hat schon immer einen verstrahlten Eindruck auf mich gemacht…
Show threadDaniel AlonsoFeb 7, 2023

@jonty @gigabecquerel

For the curious (like me) there is a wikipedia article about those tiles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_tile

Uranium tile - Wikipedia

Show threadschoenobatesFeb 7, 2023
@jonty @gigabecquerel
Show threadAdrian from avohq.io Feb 7, 2023
@jonty @gigabecquerel "Not great, not terrible!"
Show threadtwicetunatunaFeb 7, 2023
@gigabecquerel @jonty cc @dantescanline @crabtrain @temporary
Show threadCharlotteFeb 7, 2023
@jonty @gigabecquerel For everyone who's very worried: Uranium almost entirely decays via alpha radiation, which is very dangerous and harmful if it comes from within your own body (because you ate or inhaled the radioactive element), but harmless from the outside. The particles get stuck in the dead layers of the skin.
So as long as the tiles are well-sealed, it's fine.
The type of radiation and where it comes from is crucial when it comes to determining how dangerous it is.
Show threadbrianFeb 7, 2023
@jonty @gigabecquerel the origin of TMNT happened in these subways.
Show threadArgentCorvidFeb 7, 2023
@jonty @gigabecquerel mmmm spicy glass
Show threadColin M. FordFeb 7, 2023

@UBahnBerlin be careful out there...

https://chaos.social/@jonty/109818563737353115

Jonty Wareing (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 video Favourite thing I've learned in 2023: Rosenthaler Platz U-Bahn station in Berlin is entirely decorated with radioactive uranium glazed tiles. @gigabecquerel visited with a geiger counter to check. https://chaos.social/@gigabecquerel/109818433760462038

chaos.social
Show thread Squid! Feb 8, 2023

@jonty @gigabecquerel

*silently adds this to the list of places to go when I'm in Berlin for the summer*