Radwaste
7th May 2005, 11:45 AM
I am surprised to see that the base of Randi's fans did not produce a more complete refutation of the assertions regarding "cold fission" in this article. There are multiple references to show the depths of ignorance implicit in stating that any such thing occurs in the body.
Point one: though the citation of a lack of MRI fatalities through magnetically-induced fission is valid, that citation is incomplete. A proper refutation should key on the fact that magnetic devices never cause fission without manipulating an intercessor mass, such as a proton in an accelerator. Since nuclei are bound by a wholly non-magnetic force, atomic nuclei don't care about magnetism.
Point two: fission is inherently "unclean". Any nucleus split by a fission process leaves not only radical particles intent on returning to a chemical equilibrium - it leaves more than just the two cited by the subject quack. In short, were a K atom successfully split by any means, it's not going to always go K-39 --> Na-23 + O-16. That would be rare. Neutrons and occasional protons are routinely detected as the ejecta from fission events. This makes any fission event a source of ionizing radiation deadly, not beneficial, to cells.
Point three: The fission of elements lighter than, roughly, Iron-56 requires more energy than is generated by the fission. This energy would be provided from outside the body, supposedly by the quack's device (I don't have the reference at hand, but this is a very large number). Magically, this device would impart just enough energy, to K atoms only, to produce a fission that remains, "cold", as cited. That means that no kinetic energy is imparted to the fission products above that possessed by surrounding atoms (temperature is a measure of the kinetic energy possessed by a substance). This last is flatly not possible.
This is perhaps beating a dead horse, but sometimes it bothers me that people don't realize just how stupid a quack's assertions can be.
Nerds may enjoy this book: Nuclides and Isotopes, GE Nuclear Energy. It can be found at 793.5 in your library.
PS- Potassium-40 is radioactive. It's a B- emitter.
Point one: though the citation of a lack of MRI fatalities through magnetically-induced fission is valid, that citation is incomplete. A proper refutation should key on the fact that magnetic devices never cause fission without manipulating an intercessor mass, such as a proton in an accelerator. Since nuclei are bound by a wholly non-magnetic force, atomic nuclei don't care about magnetism.
Point two: fission is inherently "unclean". Any nucleus split by a fission process leaves not only radical particles intent on returning to a chemical equilibrium - it leaves more than just the two cited by the subject quack. In short, were a K atom successfully split by any means, it's not going to always go K-39 --> Na-23 + O-16. That would be rare. Neutrons and occasional protons are routinely detected as the ejecta from fission events. This makes any fission event a source of ionizing radiation deadly, not beneficial, to cells.
Point three: The fission of elements lighter than, roughly, Iron-56 requires more energy than is generated by the fission. This energy would be provided from outside the body, supposedly by the quack's device (I don't have the reference at hand, but this is a very large number). Magically, this device would impart just enough energy, to K atoms only, to produce a fission that remains, "cold", as cited. That means that no kinetic energy is imparted to the fission products above that possessed by surrounding atoms (temperature is a measure of the kinetic energy possessed by a substance). This last is flatly not possible.
This is perhaps beating a dead horse, but sometimes it bothers me that people don't realize just how stupid a quack's assertions can be.
Nerds may enjoy this book: Nuclides and Isotopes, GE Nuclear Energy. It can be found at 793.5 in your library.
PS- Potassium-40 is radioactive. It's a B- emitter.