jason

Originally published at Lemmingworks. You can comment here or there.

Found this on Slashdot:
RussiaToday : News : Russian scientists discover radiation- absorbing mineral

Russian scientists in the Khibinsky Mountains in the Arctic Circle have made an important scientific discovery. They’ve found a new mineral which absorbs radiation…. It can absorb radioactivity from liquid nuclear waste.

After coming into contact with the mineral, radioactive water becomes completely safe. Had this mineral been available to physicists after the Chernobyl or Three Mile Island disasters, the consequences might have been very different, as both accidents resulted in contamination from radioactive water.

However, it is not as simple as it sounds. Scientists say they need tonnes of it and so far they have only discovered a few grammes. But they are confident that they can chemically reproduce it on a much larger scale.

And here I am trying to justify the value of curiousity and inquiry in early childhood education. “Look! It’s a rock!” “Cool, let’s see if it absorbs nuclear radiation?” “Sure, lets!”

Sounds strange to me though. Perhaps the mineral blocks the damage of radiation, but the radio active material is still a function of decay of the atom, and that’s not going to stop just cause you dump some rocks inside.