Common Metal Could "Eliminate Fossile Fuels Overnight" - Polidicks

[QUOTE=Sobek-;24477943]Mhmm, sure, could, would, should, won't. Another miracle-cure to the world's problems that will simply never surface. Be it because it's too hard to obtain in the necessary quantities, not as effective as they thought, buried and forgotten by shady government agencies or companies that would lose out if it came to use, etc. I like to be optimistic but come ON. By this stage with all these miracle technologies and elements and power sources and whatnot reported in the last 10 years, we should have cured cancer, aids & ebola, taken to the stars in ships with unlimited power, and be enjoying living to the ripe old age of 99999. Instead, we get a news article every second week from scientists or doctors or whoever-the-hell claiming that they've stumbled upon some amazing new piece of technology or whatever that will solve all our problems. Yeah right.[/QUOTE] Thorium reactors aren't some idea someone came up with yesterday, dude. People are actually planning to build these soon. Just wait and see what happens.

[QUOTE=Sobek-;24477943]Mhmm, sure, could, would, should, won't. Another miracle-cure to the world's problems that will simply never surface. Be it because it's too hard to obtain in the necessary quantities, not as effective as they thought, buried and forgotten by shady government agencies or companies that would lose out if it came to use, etc. I like to be optimistic but come ON. By this stage with all these miracle technologies and elements and power sources and whatnot reported in the last 10 years, we should have cured cancer, aids & ebola, taken to the stars in ships with unlimited power, and be enjoying living to the ripe old age of 99999. Instead, we get a news article every second week from scientists or doctors or whoever-the-hell claiming that they've stumbled upon some amazing new piece of technology or whatever that will solve all our problems. Yeah right.[/QUOTE] Uhhh, dude, thorium is quite common, and this idea has been floating around for years. Look up molten salt reactor, the idea has been around since the 60s.

[QUOTE=Wolfie13;24477209]What's the point since fusion power is literally about to take off? We are literally years away from commercial fusion power.[/QUOTE] It is always nice not to have to rely on one sole sources of power. We didn't think we would end up in a crisis like this when we first utilized fossil fuels either. Look where using one energy source got us.

[QUOTE=Wolfie13;24477209]What's the point since fusion power is literally about to take off? We are literally years away from commercial fusion power.[/QUOTE] Why do we still use coal for most of our energy?

[QUOTE=Sobek-;24477943]Be it because it's too hard to obtain in the necessary quantities, not as effective as they thought[/QUOTE] Thorium is extremely common and LFTR is a tested model. The only reason it never got off the ground is because you can't make nukes with it. Here's a 16 minute edit of a talk on why LFTR is awesome. Watch the whole talk if you can. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWUeBSoEnRk[/media]

then a big oil corporation patents it and pockets it and we never see it again

[QUOTE=alienmartian23;24478526]then a big oil corporation patents it and pockets it and we never see it again[/QUOTE] That would be stupid of them because they would eventually stop making money. They would simply charge extra for alternative sources.

[QUOTE=Athena;24478265]Thorium is extremely common and LFTR is a tested model. The only reason it never got off the ground is because you can't make nukes with it. Here's a 16 minute edit of a talk on why LFTR is awesome. Watch the whole talk if you can. [URL="http://www.facepunch.com/#"]View YouTUBE video[/URL] [URL]http://youtube.com/watch?v=WWUeBSoEnRk[/URL] [/QUOTE] Cool :allears:

[QUOTE=zombiefreak;24478225]Why do we still use coal for most of our energy?[/QUOTE] When you invest a ton of money into a business you can't just drop it and move on.

WoW players are sitting on a goldmine of alternative energy and all they can think about is the slightly radioactive codpiece they'll make out of it.

[QUOTE=zombiefreak;24478557]That would be stupid of them because they would eventually stop making money. They would simply charge extra for alternative sources.[/QUOTE] Building an oil refinery costs 10 years and billions of dollars. Oil companies can't have their investments and their profits suddenly disappear.

so what kind of metal is it? death, speed, thrash...?

[QUOTE=Killing Time;24484189]so what kind of metal is it? death, speed, thrash...?[/QUOTE] It's named after Thor, but it isn't black so it has to be folk metal I also made this joke already in the thread

All hail Tor, the god of ancient oaks and roaring thunder. Mankinds protector and slayer of a thousand giants from Jotunheim.

[QUOTE=Kazumi;24485312]All hail Tor, the god of ancient oaks and roaring thunder. Mankinds protector and slayer of a thousand giants from Jotunheim.[/QUOTE] Tor is displeased Thor however is amused at your typo

[QUOTE=ZekeTwo;24485685]Tor is displeased Thor however is amused at your typo[/QUOTE] Swedish spelling. I'm kind of stuck with it. Oden, Asgård, Freja, Loke etc.

How about I one-up you and spell it Þórr?

goddamnit

[QUOTE=Redcow17;24477199]So if it's so much more powerful than Uranium, why is that? Uraniums power comes from radiation, so does Thorium give off a decent amount of radiation? [b]Edit[/b] Apparently it's too unstable like the post above me said, because it emits too many gamma rays according to the article.[/QUOTE] ...it's at a certain range where its atomically unstable enough to produce a decent bit of energy, but not as unstable as uranium so it can be more efficiently and safely harnessed. And gamma rays are fine, anyone who bitches about them is a pussy. Protip: They aren't dangerous to organic lifeforms or machines until they are in a massive concentration.

[QUOTE=bravehat;24486851]And gamma rays are fine, anyone who bitches about them is a pussy.[/QUOTE] Urgh, no, they're not "fine". They fuck up your DNA something fierce, and they penetrate through your whole body, unlike alpha and beta particles.

Yeah they pass through and since they are absolutely tiny, they do little to no damage. Beta and alpha particles fuck up DNA, beta are the most dangerous because they have decent penetrating power but have a substantial mass and carry the force needed to smash molecules, Gamma rays don't for one simple reason. They are a wave and have no mass, they can only react by hitting a chemical bond and delivering energy to it to break the bond.

WOO! It's like we're in the 80s again!

[QUOTE=bravehat;24486977]Yeah they pass through and since they are absolutely tiny, they do little to no damage. Beta and alpha particles fuck up DNA, beta are the most dangerous because they have decent penetrating power but have a substantial mass and carry the force needed to smash molecules, Gamma rays don't for one simple reason. They are a wave and have no mass, they can only react by hitting a chemical bond and delivering energy to it to break the bond.[/QUOTE] No, wrong, wrong, so wrong. Alpha and beta particles are essentially harmless. They barely penetrate the dermis, and so the worst injury you can get from them is burns (or skin cancer). Gamma radiation, on the other hand, is a powerful ionizing radiation. They destroy the molecules which make up your cells, and in particular fuck with your DNA. Gamma rays are the real nasty suckers in nuclear events. They cause radiation sickness, etc. Alpha and beta are nuisances.

AHAHAHA GAMMA RAYS, IONISING RADIATION!?!?! AHAHA Yeah let's completely forget the fact that gamma rays are energy quanta with no charge yeah? And yeah dude it's not gamma rays that fuck people up in nuclear events, it's the fucking radioactive dust that releases Alpha and Beta particles. Oh and beta particles can penetrate flesh up to about a foot thick, so they can pass straight through you, and because of their negative charge fuck shit up with little effort.

[QUOTE=bravehat;24487523]AHAHAHA GAMMA RAYS, IONISING RADIATION!?!?! AHAHA Yeah let's completely forget the fact that gamma rays are energy quanta with no charge yeah? And yeah dude it's not gamma rays that fuck people up in nuclear events, it's the fucking radioactive dust that releases Alpha and Beta particles. Oh and beta particles can penetrate flesh up to about a foot thick, so they can pass straight through you, and because of their negative charge fuck shit up with little effort.[/QUOTE] You have no idea what you're talking about. Beta particles penetrate soft tissue no more than roughly 11 millimeters--considerably less than an inch, much less a foot. Radiation doesn't need to have a charge to be ionizing. Take a bloody physics class. All they need to do is have sufficient energy to knock electrons off an atom. Gamma rays have plenty enough to do that.

Yes but gamma rays are so small they frequently miss vital proteins and DNA unless they are in massive concentrations, which was my whole point in the fucking first place. And okay I got my numbers wrong for the beta particle, my bad, but that's still deep enough to reach bone and organ tissues.

[QUOTE=bravehat;24487634]Yes but gamma rays are so small they frequently miss vital proteins and DNA unless they are in massive concentrations, which was my whole point in the fucking first place. And okay I got my numbers wrong for the beta particle, my bad, but that's still deep enough to reach bone and organ tissues.[/QUOTE] Barely, and only in some of the thinnest parts of the body, where bones and organs are closest to the skin. 11mm is less than half an inch. It won't get into, say, your heart, but it might get into your ribcage. However, even that isn't certain. Bones are denser than the soft tissue that makes up most of the body, and beta particles penetrate even less in bone. Bones are, on average, about 40-50% denser than soft tissue, and beta particles have a corresponding drop in penetration. As such, the beta particles are highly unlikely to penetrate the bone marrow, where they would have the potential to cause diseases such as leukemia. Of course, in low concentrations gamma radiation is less damaging. This is a given. But that's true of anything. The fact still remains that gamma radiation is far more deadly than beta particles, and mortality due to gamma radiation is far faster as well. Gamma rays simply aren't stopped by flesh, and tear through it like a knife through butter. Edit: Also, I forgot to mention, for the beta particle penetration values, I was using the highest-energy-possible beta particles. In reality, beta particle penetration could be as little as 4.6 mm in soft tissue.

No they zip through you like a microscopic needle, it's not that bad unless it's a wall of gamma hitting you. Although if you want to take it as a dead on hit then it's damagin of course but the same goes for anything that hits a molecule dead on, one way or another it'll fuck you up, just gamma rays treat the body for the most part as a transparent material and go through you and go along their merry way unless a chemical bond is in the perfect space. Basically we agree they are incredibly harmful I'm just saying that unless they are in decent numbers the damage is negligible on a full body perspective.

Alpha and beta ray sources are more dangerous in "dust" form since they are very powerfull Ionizers and will cause mutations when you can inhale them. Gamma rays are also very dangerous cause they have penetrating power and range, Their ionizing power is very low tough so you will need more of it to do any damage. The massive lead caskets they build to store depleted uranium in are only there to keep the gamma rays in. Alpha and beta dant even penetrate a fe mm of steel and are only (extreemly) dangerous when in direct contact with soft tissue.

[QUOTE=bravehat;24487523]AHAHAHA GAMMA RAYS, IONISING RADIATION!?!?! AHAHA[/QUOTE] Gamma rays are indeed ionising radiation, what the fuck are you talking about okay I see you edited your post