10
May
Uranium Failure
Saturday I went downtown to a local arts and crafts show, which was severely hampered by 40mph gusts of wind. I ended up buying a few little things: a uranium glass bottle, and two copper bowls.
Copper Bowls and a Bottle
Uranium glass (often called Vaseline glass) is fascinating stuff. Here is a link to the wiki article. One thing I like about it, apart from the nice radioactive shade of green, is that it fluoresces under blacklight. I did not happen to have a blacklight with me (a shame) but I decided to take it home and test it there.
Amusingly, the blacklight I found first is my prop Sonic Screwdriver.
On the left (as a test item) I put a marble that I know is made of uranium glass. On the right I put the new bottle.
The Test Subjects. Control on Left.
So I aimed my little Sonic Screwdriver at them, to see if they fluoresced as they ought.
Making a Note Here: Huge Failure
As you can see, the control marble that is authentic glows wildly under blacklight. And the new bottle… does nothing. EPIC FAIL.
So there you go. Even a fake Sonic Screwdriver can be a useful tool!
Tags: antiquing, geekery, mad science, uranium glass
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on Sunday, May 10th, 2009 at 10:32 am and is filed under crazy, mad science.
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