I'm only hanging on to watch you go down

[asimplechord]

I'm not really clear how this happened, but I'm glad it didn't happen to my summer student.

The guy working in the lab next door? Got ~9000cpm of radioactive ATP on his trousers. Right on the crotch.

What was he doing, humping the lab bench?

Comments

[angela-snape.livejournal.com]

that is just mind-boggling.

[asimplechord.livejournal.com]

The thing is, I can't say I'm surprised. Every summer one of the visiting students does something that makes us shake our heads and wonder how on earth it happened. At least it was only P-32.

[poultrygeist99.livejournal.com]

Better a man than a woman? Or is my high school biology failing me again?

[asimplechord.livejournal.com]

Yeah, better for a man since sperm regenerate. I don't think that amount and form of radioactivity (P-32, a moderate-energy beta emitter) would do series damage as long as it's external and not near the corneas. But it caused a stir among the lab safety dept, and the lab coat and trousers had to be confiscated.

[poultrygeist99.livejournal.com]

and the lab coat and trousers had to be confiscated.

Bad mental image! Down boy!

[asimplechord.livejournal.com]

Seriously, if one of the profs didn't have his gym shorts there, the student would have either had to go home naked or get someone to buy him a pair of scrubs from the med school bookstore.

[minuet99.livejournal.com]

OMG. That's terrible and amusing at the same time... only because just how *DID* he get it there??

[asimplechord.livejournal.com]

Apparently he likes to lean against the edge of the lab bench. And he didn't realize that the puddle of wetness might be something other than pure water. When I told MrIris about it, he thought it wasn't unusual -- he used to get chemicals on his pants all the time from leaning against the bench. Must be a guy thing.

[scotrid.livejournal.com]

cpm?

Futurama reference:
Bender aims F-ray at Fry's crotch.
Fry: "Ow, my sperm!"
Bender: "Let's try that again."
Bender aims F-ray at Fry's crotch.
Fry: "Hmm, didn't hurt that time."

[asimplechord.livejournal.com]

cpm = counts per minute = disintegrations per minute = the units of radioactivity scintillation counters measure

The standard unit for purchasing radioactivity is a Curie, and 1 Ci undergoes 2.22x10¹² disintegrations per minute.



I need to watch Futurama. I think I'd probably like it. :)

[scotrid.livejournal.com]

Now, I was thinking curies per minute or counts per minute, but the context seemed like it should be a volume of liquid.

Is my dictionary wrong? It says a Ci is 3.7x10^10 disintegrations/min.

[asimplechord.livejournal.com]

Hmm, we use the 2.22e12 for cpm to curie calculations. I'm not sure where the 3.7e10 fits in. I've gotten lazy though - I've been doing it so long I just stick the numbers in a calculator without thinking about the unit conversions. But you know, I think we assume that cpm to dpm counting is efficient, and that is not the case for all nuclides. In some cases, cpm=/=dpm, it's cpm=N*dpm, where N=some coefficient to describe efficiency of the counter. That might be where the 3.7e10 comes in.

We usually use a set amount of curies per fixed volume in a reaction tube, then calculate from that how many nanomoles are consumed in a catalytic reaction.

[fleurdeliser.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. That's not good. *crings*

[asimplechord.livejournal.com]

No, not good.

He might get the trousers back in three months. As it was, they had to find something else for him to wear home.

[koshweasley.livejournal.com]

Is he cute at least? Gives me interesting thoughts for our scientist:)

[asimplechord.livejournal.com]

He's tall, with dark hair and dark skin. Not bad looking. But still in that awkward, doesn't know what to do with limbs that recently grew stage.

[chiralove.livejournal.com]

eeeek omg! I hope everything is ok!