4 ms·

Hell, they even tried mercury: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delay_line_memory#Mercury_delay_lines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delay_line_memory#Mercury_dela.

• astrodust 10y ago
  Back then they used mercury for everything. It's kind of scary.
  • jonsen 10y ago
    Not really: "Quicksilver (liquid metallic mercury) is poorly absorbed by ingestion and skin contact. Its vapor is the most hazardous form. Animal data indicate less than 0.01% of ingested mercury is absorbed through the intact gastrointestinal tract, though it may not be true for individuals suffering from ileus. Cases of systemic toxicity from accidental swallowing are rare, and attempted suicide via intravenous injection does not appear to result in systemic toxicity,[25] though it still causes damage by physically blocking blood vessels both at the site of injection and the lungs. Though not studied quantitatively, the physical properties of liquid elemental mercury limit its absorption through intact skin and in light of its very low absorption rate from the gastrointestinal tract, skin absorption would not be high.[32] Some mercury vapor is absorbed dermally, but uptake by this route is only about 1% of that by inhalation.[33]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_poisoning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_poisoning
    • astrodust 10y ago
      Yeah, well, tell that to people living on mercury contaminated land, drinking mercury contaminated well-water, or who worked in factories that used mercury in their manufacturing process.
      • M_Grey 10y ago
        What he's saying is not that Hg is safe, just that acute exposure is less of an issue than chronic exposure. What you're describing are pretty much the dictionary definition of "chronic".
        • astrodust 10y ago
          Working around a computer filled with mercury delay lines sounds to me like chronic. If there was ever a leak would you know? Even if one of them emits a small amount of vapour that could be pretty bad.
          • M_Grey 10y ago
            I would agree that the case of the memory system is definitely one of the "risky" ones, although it could be made safe with ventilation and isolation. Realistically though, some people involved in regular maintenance probably did suffer some level of exposure, given the time and the attitude to risk.
    • M_Grey 10y ago
      The issue is more to do with mercury as a persistent environmental toxin, or you know... if you happen to cure your hat's felt in it you'd be in real trouble. Honestly, if it were a more obvious and rapid killer/debilitator, it would have been less pernicious and abused over the years.
      • astrodust 10y ago
        > if it were a more obvious and rapid killer/debilitator... Not really. Back then people would drop dead for a myriad of combination of poorly understood reasons and incurable diseases. Serious bacterial infection? You're dead. Cancer? You're dead. Anyeurism? Dead. Heart attack? Probably dead. Fought in a war? Dead. Spanish flu? Dead. Polio? Dead. Worked in a coal mine? Dead. Hazardous industrial job? Dead. So things like mercury or radiation poisioning had to take a number.
  • Animats 10y ago
    It was worse in the 19th century. Look at the original Michaelson-Morley experiment: a huge tank of mercury with a granite slab floating in it.[1] That was the only way to get a low-friction low-vibration bearing back then. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson%E2%80%93Morley_experiment#Michelson_experiment_.281881.29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson%E2%80%93Morley_exper...