4 ms·

Sometimes you look at the world a different way. It's a trope in fantasy books that elves are sensitive to iron, and humans can easily defeat them by using "co

Sometimes you look at the world a different way. It's a trope in fantasy books that elves are sensitive to iron, and humans can easily defeat them by using "cold iron" or steel weapons and armour. So... what is humanity's "cold iron"? Two that come to mind are beryllium and cadmium, both used almost nowhere in bulk outside of... military aerospace... because they're poisonous to humans. Beryllium is the ultimate aerospace engineering metal. Extremely light, very strong, and doesn't expand much when heated. It's commonly used in missiles and the like. Cadmium is the ultimate anti-corrosion coating because it's so soft that it reflows to cover microscopic cracks. That gold colour you see on the undercarriage and landing gear of some military aircraft is cadmium. Its use is banned for most civilian purposes, but special dispensation is available for military use. It's just that good, which justifies lightly poisoning a few airmen.

carlmr 4y ago
>It's just that good, which justifies lightly poisoning a few airmen. If you're in the business of killing people, are you really surprised your company doesn't value your life?
- jiggawatts 4y ago
  The logic is that if a bomber carrying a nuclear payload crashes because of corrosion, then that would be a lot more harmful than whatever danger the cadmium poses.
htss2013 4y ago
Unfortunately cadmium is used in bulk in the making of much of the dark chocolate sold in the USA. It's ironic because dark chocolate is often marketed has having health benefits. https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/lead-and-cadmium-in-dark-chocolate-a8480295550/ https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/lead-and-...
- jiggawatts 4y ago
  > The researchers found that cacao plants take up cadmium from the soil, with the metal accumulating in cacao beans as the tree grows. That’s similar to how heavy metals contaminate some other foods. It's not the machinery that's adding the heavy metals, it's either the plants concentrating it from the soil, or air pollution settling on the beans. What's scary is that my favourite brand of dark chocolate is in the danger zone for cadmium!
  - htss2013 4y ago
    It's a distinction without a difference. In the past maybe they didn't know there was toxic cadmium in the cacao, but it's obvious now. Yet they continue to make and sell cadmium cacao that is going to kill people for sure. No one seems to care. It's effectively the same as adding cadmium to the official recipe at this point.

carlmr 4y ago

>It's just that good, which justifies lightly poisoning a few airmen. If you're in the business of killing people, are you really surprised your company doesn't value your life?

jiggawatts 4y ago
The logic is that if a bomber carrying a nuclear payload crashes because of corrosion, then that would be a lot more harmful than whatever danger the cadmium poses.

htss2013 4y ago

Unfortunately cadmium is used in bulk in the making of much of the dark chocolate sold in the USA. It's ironic because dark chocolate is often marketed has having health benefits. https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/lead-and-cadmium-in-dark-chocolate-a8480295550/ https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/lead-and-...

jiggawatts 4y ago
> The researchers found that cacao plants take up cadmium from the soil, with the metal accumulating in cacao beans as the tree grows. That’s similar to how heavy metals contaminate some other foods. It's not the machinery that's adding the heavy metals, it's either the plants concentrating it from the soil, or air pollution settling on the beans. What's scary is that my favourite brand of dark chocolate is in the danger zone for cadmium!
- htss2013 4y ago
  It's a distinction without a difference. In the past maybe they didn't know there was toxic cadmium in the cacao, but it's obvious now. Yet they continue to make and sell cadmium cacao that is going to kill people for sure. No one seems to care. It's effectively the same as adding cadmium to the official recipe at this point.