I have an old coffee or tea cup just like that. It was my grandmas. I use it to make my old Civil Defense Geiger counter do something other than collect dust. Love the videos, keep 'em coming! You present them in such an educated and eloquent way that is so hard to find in a lot of content anymore.

The reddish orange glaze is one of the most beautiful colors. I've got a Fiestaware plate. My then wife - using her ceramics background - insisted 'it's not one of the radioactive ones.' After the divorce... I went looking for a second one and found out. Then at school we had a 1954 Geiger counter. Used to sing around that plate. At 5:30 you cover the most critical point. Heavy metals (Uranium, etc) leeching into food. I ate off that plate for 20 years. When I learned it was radioactive I contacted Theodore Gray who makes amazing books about the Periodic Table. He told me what you share. It's the heavy metals that are the risk, not the radioactivity. It's best not to eat off it... but said I shouldn't worry that I had. He of course has these types of radioactive objects but said he wouldn't keep them right next to his bed or his desk where he spends a lot of time. Trinitite has Plutonium in it? Scary. I've got my own nuclear bomb souvenirs. I was born in the 1950s so I've got residual fallout from atmospheric testing.

For curious people (like me) this site is brilliant.

We have a nice set of Fiestaware that my wife's grandmother passed down. One year the church had a table-setting show and while she didn't win first prize she did get a lot of attention and many favorable comments.

This is one of the many reasons I still prefer old Victorian-era designs for dishware { among other aesthetics and housewares }. All joking aside, very good and very informative video.

The older fiesta ware often has little glaze bubbles on the bottom side from where they dried it on a rack.

For future reference, you shouldn't use the dose rate reading of your geiger counter in most situations, it will not give you the correct reading. A geiger-muller tube has no method to discern the energy level of the radiation it is measuring. A dose rate is simply a measure of energy per unit mass per hour, the reading has no value if the energy being absorbed by the detector is unkown. Most geiger counters have been calibrated to read a set dose rate per count reading based on the gamma emmissions of Cesium-137. The isotope was chosen as it is the most abundant radioisotope after the first few weeks of a nuclear disaster. The important take away here is that the dose rate of a geiger counter only has meaning if... 1. You are measuring Cesium-137 2. You are measuring a known pure isotope other than Cesium-137 and have the conversion factor to adjust the dose rate reading. If these conditions haven't been met, you should only use the count rate for measurment. Otherwise, you could purchase a scintillation counter which is capable of discening the energy of the pulses measured.

I drove past the Fiesta factory in WV and they just have a giant hill that is made of discarded pottery shards. It is so cool looking. You can see it on Google Maps.

@blipco5

7 ай бұрын

I just Google mapped it. You are right. 👍

Thank you very much.

I like the idea of a cup that keeps my coffee hot with no external power input.

For those that are seeing this and want to know, the red orange color is very distinct. Anything that looks that specific shade is radioactive. Newer Fiesta never used any close colors other than poppy, which is notably more red. If it's red orange and Fiesta, there is a high chance it's radioactive.

Great video, really knows his stuff

Thank you for the info! Loved it! ❤

Love your videos

This was super informational. I'm going to be creating a fiestaware sheep sculpt for youtube video next month, hopefully. I'm brand new to this. I'm not an educator by any means, but I'm definitely going to put a link for this video.

Cool video!

I once found a fragment of a plate with what looks to be the radioactive symbol on it's design

I just checked out Fiestaware. Their stuff is beautiful.

Do tell that contamination meter model you are using. I've not seen that design before. I've a few Ludlum and Victoreen units in my collection. Beautiful bits of kit. Works of old Science art. To detect the unseen and marvel at it or flight. As in running away. I've a Ludlum Model 14-c Survey Meter that works like a charm. She's my go to meter for identifying hot stuff. Sure she's 1960's big and bulky. She gets the job done.

"hot cup" -- I see what you did there.

most excellent detail on the trinitite; was unaware of the ability to trace origin using the baritol. Don't bring that cup to Haddon Township High School in New Jersey!! They'll apparently evacuate the building, call in the damn hazmat team, and notify the local prosecutor. 🙄

Do you have a geiger to measure the radioactivity of the cup?

Something else you might enjoy looking into- Those who collect vintage Coleman gas camping lanterns also treasure & horde the “Silk-Lite” mantles they came with. Mantles once lit are fragile and easily damaged so it was common to carry several spare packs. Vintage mantles contain thorium and burn with a much brighter & whiter light than the newer, supposedly safer non thorium ones. One can still buy Peerless & Lancaster brand mantles made overseas that DO contain thorium with warnings on packaging to avoid carrying them in pockets and to not breathe smoke & ash from them. They really do burn bright! It’s not uncommon for collectors to have hundreds of spare mantles in a shoe box. Is there a hazard here?

@CanadianMacGyver

10 ай бұрын

You would probably have to inhale/ingest a lot of dust for it to pose any sort of hazard; Thorium, like Uranium, is a fairly weak alpha particle emitter and harmless outside the body. On that subject, a book well worth reading is "The Radioactive Boy Scout" - the story of David Hahn, a teenager who tried to build his own miniature breeder reactor in the 90s. One of his experiments involved burning lantern mantles into ash, inserting a piece of lithium from a rechargeable battery, and heating the combination to induce a replacement reaction, yielding metallic Thorium!

@Bitterrootbackroads

9 ай бұрын

@@CanadianMacGyver , I’ve heard of him. I suspect Mr. Hahn’s story is the inspiration for some of Sheldon Coopers supposed boyhood adventures.

Where is the link to your other video? Did you remove it?

Just correcting a (rare) factual error. In your tracing of the decay chain of Uranium, Pa is Protactinium, not Palladium (which is Pd)

Some Matter is a hot mess

Interesting lesson about the Trinitite, there! This video's the first I've heard of it, and it's certainly piqued my curiosity... 😇 ...What confuses me though - Given my country's questionable attitude toward the disabled, invalided and infirm - Is why the British gov't hasn't struck a deal with the US gov't to harvest lots of Trinitite and then make it into „Limited edition“ jewellery to be offered for sale on QVC and other British daytime shopping programmes? 🇬🇧♦☢🛍😉

The most overused word to describe the black plague trend we seem to finally be starting to advance past is _vibrant_ . Quite a sickening word now a days considering its connotation.

I love the United Nuclear website and all it offers.......but I strongly dislike Bob Lazar and his .....uhhh...theories......... unfortunately Bob Lazar Is the owner/operator of United Nuclear........ seeing as how the area 51 stuff has been declassified and .............joe rogan......lmfao. Come on, other than that yes united nuclear is a decent site , I'm sure people will come to their senses......................

@burroaks7

8 ай бұрын

dudes a full on looney bin the evidence is all there

@burroaks7

8 ай бұрын

joe rogan is stupid

No one complained about Pa being Protactinium and not Palladium (Pd) yet? In two years? 🥸

@trash0

7 ай бұрын

Yes, and a few missing alpha particles :D