6 ms·

Tiny radioactive capsule lost in Australian outback found

55 points by bloat 4y ago

bloat 4y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34560399 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34560399
eisvogel 4y ago
yay
dieselgate 4y ago
nice, of all the possibly outcomes it's cool it was just found on the side of the road. kind of the most likely outcome but glad it actually happened
SanjayMehta 4y ago
Impressive: "It was initially detected by staff inside a car that was travelling at 70km/h past the capsule."
- shellac 4y ago
  Referred to in a news report as being 'like looking for a needle in a haystack', but with the convenience that the needle is detectable at quite a distance (10s of metres), assuming it hasn't fallen down a crack or been covered by something.
  - Reason077 4y ago
    It's certainly makes the job of finding a needle in a haystack easier if that needle is giving off ionising radiation!
    - mcphage 4y ago
      Maybe we need to invent geiger counters for needles!
      - Reason077 4y ago
        Maybe we need to invent radioactive needles, to make them easier to find in case they get lost in haystacks.
        benibela 4y ago
        Or you could use a metaldetector?
        mcphage 4y ago
        That's some A+ Cave Johnson level thinking!
  - codeulike 4y ago
    Like looking for a capsule in the outback
- hulitu 4y ago
  This must be some heavy shit. Is Australia building a nuclear bomb ?
verytrivial 4y ago
Edit: user defrost provided some good looking context comment exactly of the form I was looking for, thanks. The specifics of the available technology matters when assessing these claims. For some reason I'm actually skeptical it has actually been found. A cynical reading is they scanned all the places people were ever likely to intentionally stop on that road and found nothing. So harm is just very unlikely, but leaving the item unaccounted for was just really, really bad press. I want to hear more about the sensitivity of this scanning device, particularly when used at this speed, and from someone knowledgeable in the field.
- defrost 4y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34574163 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34574163 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34551688 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34551688 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34607673 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34607673
- Reason077 4y ago
  Why skeptical? It's easy to find sources of ionising radiation, and it sounds like this capsule was a pretty powerful one for it's size. You can buy a device capable of detecting it for $30 on Amazon - and I'm sure the searchers had far more sophisticated/sensitive equipment at their disposal. If they really didn't think it was dangerous (or findable) and didn't want bad publicity then they would have just hushed it up in the first place and never gone to the government & press.
  - worthless-trash 4y ago
    ARPANSA in Australia some of the most decent radiation detecting equipment I've seen, I imagine they would have been engaged early in the process.
    - worthless-trash 4y ago
      Turns out it was (ARPANSA), Defence, and the Western Australia Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) as part of a multi-agency response.
deafpolygon 4y ago
Whew. Marvel Phase 5 averted.
rob74 4y ago
> The Australian defence force is now verifying the small radioactive device by its serial number. Would be funny (depending on how weird your sense of humor is) if they found out it wasn't the device they're looking for, but another one that was lost years ago and never reported...
- jareklupinski 4y ago
  "Sir, I've got some bad news.... We were looking for capsule 9089, but this one is 6806..."
  - hackeraccount 4y ago
    That's why you'll never get ahead in life. The way to phrase that is: "Sir, I've got some good news and bad news..."
jrs235 4y ago
Dupe: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34607423 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34607423

55 points by bloat 4y ago

bloat 4y ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34560399 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34560399

eisvogel 4y ago

yay

dieselgate 4y ago

nice, of all the possibly outcomes it's cool it was just found on the side of the road. kind of the most likely outcome but glad it actually happened

SanjayMehta 4y ago

Impressive: "It was initially detected by staff inside a car that was travelling at 70km/h past the capsule."

shellac 4y ago
Referred to in a news report as being 'like looking for a needle in a haystack', but with the convenience that the needle is detectable at quite a distance (10s of metres), assuming it hasn't fallen down a crack or been covered by something.
- Reason077 4y ago
  It's certainly makes the job of finding a needle in a haystack easier if that needle is giving off ionising radiation!
  - mcphage 4y ago
    Maybe we need to invent geiger counters for needles!
    - Reason077 4y ago
      Maybe we need to invent radioactive needles, to make them easier to find in case they get lost in haystacks.
      - benibela 4y ago
        Or you could use a metaldetector?
      - mcphage 4y ago
        That's some A+ Cave Johnson level thinking!
- codeulike 4y ago
  Like looking for a capsule in the outback
hulitu 4y ago
This must be some heavy shit. Is Australia building a nuclear bomb ?

verytrivial 4y ago

Edit: user defrost provided some good looking context comment exactly of the form I was looking for, thanks. The specifics of the available technology matters when assessing these claims. For some reason I'm actually skeptical it has actually been found. A cynical reading is they scanned all the places people were ever likely to intentionally stop on that road and found nothing. So harm is just very unlikely, but leaving the item unaccounted for was just really, really bad press. I want to hear more about the sensitivity of this scanning device, particularly when used at this speed, and from someone knowledgeable in the field.

defrost 4y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34574163 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34574163 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34551688 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34551688 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34607673 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34607673
Reason077 4y ago
Why skeptical? It's easy to find sources of ionising radiation, and it sounds like this capsule was a pretty powerful one for it's size. You can buy a device capable of detecting it for $30 on Amazon - and I'm sure the searchers had far more sophisticated/sensitive equipment at their disposal. If they really didn't think it was dangerous (or findable) and didn't want bad publicity then they would have just hushed it up in the first place and never gone to the government & press.
- worthless-trash 4y ago
  ARPANSA in Australia some of the most decent radiation detecting equipment I've seen, I imagine they would have been engaged early in the process.
  - worthless-trash 4y ago
    Turns out it was (ARPANSA), Defence, and the Western Australia Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) as part of a multi-agency response.

deafpolygon 4y ago

Whew. Marvel Phase 5 averted.

rob74 4y ago

> The Australian defence force is now verifying the small radioactive device by its serial number. Would be funny (depending on how weird your sense of humor is) if they found out it wasn't the device they're looking for, but another one that was lost years ago and never reported...

jareklupinski 4y ago
"Sir, I've got some bad news.... We were looking for capsule 9089, but this one is 6806..."
- hackeraccount 4y ago
  That's why you'll never get ahead in life. The way to phrase that is: "Sir, I've got some good news and bad news..."

jrs235 4y ago

Dupe: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34607423 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34607423