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What is tritium paint? + Hibernation is getting weird thanks to climate change

#1
C C Offline
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/techno...tium-paint

EXCERPTS: In 1957, Edward Shapiro filed a patent for a novel type of “self-luminous paint.” The concept was not new, luminous paints based on radioactive emissions from radium striking a phosphor such as zinc sulfide were introduced in 1917. Watch dials and compasses that glow in the dark proved to be very useful on the front during World War I. After the war [...] it was phased out by the 1960s. ... Major watchmakers stopped using radium paint and switched to tritium paint.

Tritium is an isotope of hydrogen, meaning that instead of having a nucleus composed of a single proton, it has a nucleus of a proton and two neutrons. This nucleus is unstable and undergoes radioactive decay to form helium. Essentially one of the neutrons releases an electron and becomes a proton. The stream of electrons released is known as “beta radiation” and does not pose the same danger as alpha and gamma emission from radium. But the problem is that tritium is a gas. Shapiro’s challenge was to incorporate tritium into some substance that can be formulated into a paint.

[...] Tritium gas can be used to fill tiny glass tubes that have a phosphor coating on the glass. These are like tiny neon tubes except they do not need an outside source of energy. They can be made small enough to embed in the hands and numerals of a watch. Such tritium watches are not cheap but are prized by divers, pilots, Navy Seals and anyone who wants something a little special. Don’t confuse tritium watches, though, with ones that use strontium aluminate as a glow-in-the-dark substance... (MORE - missing details)


Hibernation is getting weird thanks to climate change (video)
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/941750

RELEASE: You might think hibernation is just a nap that bears take during the wintertime, but it’s really much more complicated and climate based. With climate change happening, how will hibernating animals be affected, and will animals that don’t hibernate begin to do so?

Reactions is a video series produced by the American Chemical Society and PBS Digital Studios. Subscribe to Reactions at http://bit.ly/ACSReactions and follow us on Twitter @ACSReactions...


https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/XqbQI54SCds
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#2
Syne Offline
Tritium is also use in gun sights.
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