#Radium

2025-11-07

Today we celebrate the birthday of not one, but two amazing women in science! 🤗🎉Marie Skłodowska-Curie (1867), who discovered #radium & #polonium & pioneered #radioactivity, & Lise Meitner (1878), whose brilliance uncovered the physics behind #nuclearfission. Happy birthday! #OTD #WomenInStem #WomeninScience

Black-and-white portrait of Maria Skłodowska-Curie, 1903. She is seated in a chair, wearing a dark dress with a light, patterned collar, resting her head on one hand and looking directly at the camera. public domainBlack-and-white photo of Lise Meitner around 1906 in Vienna. She is wearing a long dress and a hat, standing among large plants and looking to the side.  public domain
Bundesamt für Strahlenschutzstrahlenschutz@social.bund.de
2025-11-04

In dieser Woche feiern wir gleich 2 Geburtstage von denkwürdigen Wissenschaftlerinnen. Beide wurden an einem 7. November geboren. Die erste ist Marie Curie: Dieses Jahr wäre sie 158 Jahre alt geworden.

Sie führte den Begriff #radioaktiv ein und entdeckte die Elemente #Polonium und #Radium. Zudem stellte sie die Hypothese auf, dass #Radioaktivität eine feste Eigenschaft bestimmter Elemente ist.

Für ihre Arbeiten erhielt sie 1903 den Nobelpreis für Physik und 1911 den Nobelpreis für Chemie.

Cees-Jan Kiewiet :rp: :wm:wyri@haxim.us
2025-11-03

Sweet! My LEGO tiles of Radium-226 just came in, and they glow in the dark just perfectly ♥️ :

#radioActive #Radium #LEGO #glowInTheDark #Radium226

earthlingappassionato
2025-09-21

Let's not forget the Revigator.


DRINK 
Radio-Active water from the Revigorator 

Your health is your wealth.
earthlingappassionato
2025-09-21

A century ago, a new wellness trend captivated people around the world. Just a small dose of newly discovered supplement could cure almost anything — from gout to headaches to “lack of bodily vigor.”

People paid through the nose to get their hands on the stuff; unfortunately, it melted away much of the rest of their face. The new magic cure was radioactive, and eventually killed or disabled many of its adherents.

worldhistory.substack.com/p/th

But before people realized the dangers that radium posed, they celebrated it in song and used it in everything, from pain relief to cosmetics.
𝙰𝚗𝚍𝚢 𝙿𝚊𝚌𝚒𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚔 ~ 𝔡𝔞𝔰 𝔲𝔫𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔪𝔩𝔦𝔠𝔥𝔢 💀☕andy-paciorek.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy
2025-09-06
2025-08-04

"Back in the days #KEYGEN.EXE was the way to get yourself on the other side of the #PayWall"

Instant #DemoScene Flashback <3

"The Soundtrack of #OnlinePiracy"

NFO: youtu.be/zHgcrdv8zpM

P.S.: Thanx to #RADIUM ;)

2025-07-26

Dogs, crews and helicopters deployed to find missing B.C. hiker in Banff

By Bill Graveland The Canadian Press Posted July 25, 2025 1:51 pm Updated July 25, 2025 3:36 pm…
#NewsBeep #News #Headlines #Banff #BanffNationalPark #CA #Canada #missinghiker #Radium
newsbeep.com/20511/

earthlingappassionato
2025-07-24

@bookstodon

&

Half Lives The Unlikely History of Radium by Lucy Jane Santos, 2020

'In Half Lives, Lucy Santos transports us back to a time when consumers wondered whether mixing radium into chicken feed might result in eggs that could hard-boil themselves; when diners cheerfully drank radioactive cocktails that glowed in the dark; and when people used toothpaste containing lethal thorium oxide in the pursuit of healthy gums.





Santos unpicks fact from fiction and exhibits a masterful grasp of a complex area of science history that is so often mistold. Half Lives is a delightfully disturbing book that reminds us all of the age-old Latin maxim, 'caveat emptor.'  - Dr Lindsey Fitzharris, bestselling author of The Butchering Art 


'With verve and vivacity, Lucy Jane Santos conducts her readers on a unique tour of the twentieth century's most significant scientific discovery. Before the R-word threatened destruction, it offered hope for the future — teeth would glow white...
earthlingappassionato
2025-07-24

@bookstodon

See also:

Radium and the Secret of Life by Luis A. Campos, 2015

Before the hydrogen bomb indelibly associated radioactivity with death, many chemists, physicians, botanists, and geneticists believed that radium might hold the secret to life.





Physicists and chemists early on described the wondrous new element in lifelike terms such as “decay” and “half-life,” and made frequent references to the “natural selection” and “evolution” of the elements. Meanwhile, biologists of the period used radium in experiments aimed at elucidating some of the most basic phenomena of life, including metabolism and mutation. From the creation of half-living microbes in the test tube to charting the earliest histories of genetic engineering, Radium and the Secret of Life highlights previously unknown interconnections between the history of the early radioactive sciences and the sciences of heredity. Equating the transmutation of radium with the biological transmutation of living species, biologists saw in metabolism and mutation properties that reminded them of the new element. These initially provocative metaphoric links between radium and life proved remarkably productive and ultimately led to key biological insights into the origin of life, the nature of heredity, and the structure of the gene. Radium and the Secret of Life recovers a forgotten history of the connections between radioactivity and the life sciences that existed long before the dawn of molecular biology.
earthlingappassionato
2025-07-24

@bookstodon
2/
More than a historical account, "Radium's Glow" is a compelling exploration of the complex relationship between science and society, the ethical dilemmas of scientific advancement, and the enduring legacy of a discovery that forever changed the world.




An ad for Revigator 
Radioactive water from the revigator
Your health is your wealth.
earthlingappassionato
2025-07-24

Radium’s Glow: How Radioactivity Changed Science, Society, and the World by Alex Bugeya, 2024

This captivating book delves into the fascinating and often unsettling history of radium, exploring its profound impact on science, society, and our world. From the initial discovery of invisible rays to the dawn of the nuclear age, it's a journey through scientific breakthroughs, societal crazes, and the devastating consequences of unchecked enthusiasm.

@bookstodon


Witness the pioneering work of scientists like the Curies and Rutherford as they unveiled the mysteries of radioactivity, forever changing our understanding of the atom. Experience the early 20th-century "Radium Craze," where this luminescent element, promising miraculous cures, found its way into everyday products, from toothpaste to cosmetics. 
Confront the tragic story of the "Radium Girls," a stark reminder of the dangers of radioactive materials and the human cost of scientific progress. Explore radium's crucial role in revolutionizing atomic theory, leading to the nuclear model and unlocking Earth's history through radiometric dating. 
From the luminous sights of World War I to the Manhattan Project and the devastating atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this book examines radium's influence on warfare and the chilling rise of the nuclear arms race. It delves into the promise and peril of nuclear power, examining both its potential as a clean energy source and the catastrophic consequences of Chernobyl and Fukushima. 
This book also explores the modern applications of radioactivity in medicine, industry, and environmental science, including radiotherapy, nuclear medicine, sterilization techniques, and industrial gauging. It confronts the ongoing challenges of radiation safety, environmental contamination, and the future of nuclear technology, balancing the need for progress with the imperative of responsibility.
N-gated Hacker Newsngate
2025-07-08

🎹 So, wants us to believe it's reinventing the wheel by merging piano rolls and trackers into one groundbreaking interface 🤔. But let's be real, it's just a DAWg trying to fetch attention with flashy visuals and not much bite 🐶. Maybe they should focus more on making music than making graphical spaces "better" 📉.
users.notam02.no/~kjetism/radi

2025-07-02

The Alameda Chamber & Economic Alliance unveiled the winners of its inaugural Innovation Island Excellence Awards. The awards honor the pioneering spirit, groundbreaking initiatives, and significant contributions of local businesses and organizations. Photos by Maurice Ramirez. alamedapost.com/news/innovatio

#alameda #AlamedaChamberAndEconomicAlliance #CollegeOfAlameda #DanielleMieler #NavierBoat #OaklandRoots #OaklandSoul #radium #RadiumPresents #ScienceCorp

#nowplaying

Lenny Dee and Radium - Headbanger Boogie (2005)

Released in 2005 on Psychik Genocide

youtube.com/watch?v=5Sjf7u6X-gw

#Hardcore #Gabber #LennyDee #Radium #MastoMusic

John Faithfull 🌍🇪🇺🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🧡✊🏻✊🏿FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot
2025-05-24

@cocteautriplets Interesting that the name Margaret Tod (one "d") appears as a leader in radium medicine. Glasgow doctor Margaret Todd (two "d"s) also has a radium connection. She came up with the word "isotope" for Frederick Soddy, when he realised that thorium and uranium decay produced nuclearly-different versions of the same element - radium in 1913. #MargaretTod #MargaretTodd #Radium #Isotopes

Andy Arthur - Threadinburghthreadina@threadinburgh.scot
2025-05-24

The thread about the Beechmount Institute, home of the Edinburgh Radium Bomb

A couple of things happened recently. A fire at the former Corstorphine Hospital prompted me to read up and write about the history of that establishment and it was also the annual Christian Aid bumper booksale in Edinburgh, at which I picked up an excellent history of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh1 (amongst many other things.) These circumstances converged to pique my interest in Beechmount, a grand mansion house which was, for a short time at least, the exotic and atomic sounding National Radium Centre and a pioneer in the field of radiotherapy.

Beechmount, estate agent’s photo. © 2025 Scarlett Land & Development

Beechmount, set amongst 8 acres of woodland, was built in 1900 in an Italianate style to designs by Messrs McArthy & Watson as the private residence of Sir George and Lady Mary Anne Anderson. The land was feud from the Beechwood Mains estate at Murrayfield and its name was a simple amalgam of the neighbouring properties of Beechwood and Belmont.

1905 Ordnance Survey 1:25 inch map of Edinburghshire, centred on Beechmount (left), Beechwood (centre) and Belmont (right). Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

Sir George was treasurer of the Bank of Scotland from 1898 to 1917, which explains how the coat of arms of that institution came to be found above the house’s main door and grand fireplace. He was the first Scottish “banker knight“, his title conferred for services to his industry. After his retirement in 1917, the Andersons spent their retirement at Beechmount as respected members of Edinburgh society. Sir George died there on December 1st 1923, aged 78. Lady Anne survived him before she too passed away in the house on 26th May 1926, aged 80. Her husband had intended that the house be left to his bank as an official residence for its treasurer but Lady Anne instead bequeathed it to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. She recommended it be used as a convalescent home for servicemen injured during World War I but gave the hospital managers final discretion as to its use. In addition, £5,000 was left to them to help adapt the property to its new purpose.

Sir George Anderson, 1911 photographic portrait by Bassano & Vandyk. © National Portrait Gallery, London

And that may have been that for the Beechmount story had it not been for the rapid development of a new field of medicine. In 1926, the Infirmary had been able to purchase 500mg of the radioactive element Radium – a substantial proportion of the entire global supply of it at that time – as the result of a donation of £5,000. It began to experiment in its use for the treatment of “malignant disease“; cancer. Prior to this, the only known treatment was surgical removal of tumours and the new branch is what we now call Radiotherapy. To begin with, Radium treatments were undertaken in the main buildings of the Infirmary at Lauriston Place by introducing tiny amounts of the element directly into tumours using needles, different coloured threads attached to them indicating the radioactive strength. However it soon became clear that a specialised unit dedicated to the therapy would be desirable and in 1928 it was decided that Lady Anderson’s bequest should be fitted out as such; the Beechmount Radium Institute.

The medical promise of Radium was great but so too were the costs, dangers and difficulties associated with its use. As a result, in 1929 the government established the Radium Trust to source and hold supplies of the wonder material for the nation and the National Radium Commission to oversee its regulation and distribution. The Commission did not want to deal purely with hospitals and so in 1930 a joint partnership between the Royal Infirmary and the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Edinburgh was set up to combine their teaching and research in the field in order that they could mutually benefit from the national supply. In the meantime £11,000 was spent on the Beechmount project and the new facility, with 36 in-patient beds, was opened in October 1932. To begin with patients continued to be treated at the Infirmary and were sent to the new annexe for their pre- and post-treatment convalescent care, however the entire process was soon centralised at the Institute.

The Beechmount Radium Institute, photograph in the Nursing Times, March 1937

The facility was overseen by the respected surgeon John James McIntosh (J.J.M.) Shaw, a military doctor, pioneer in reconstructive plastic surgery and member of both the Radium Trust and Commission. Its first matron was Margaret Colville Marshall, later “Lady Superintendent” of the Infirmary and awarded the OBE for this service. From his base at Beechmount, J.J.M. oversaw the establishment of the Cancer Control Organisation for Edinburgh and Southeast Scotland in 1934, a group of influential (and wealthy) members of society to help organising towards the running costs of the Institute. That same year the Radium Commission approved the Infirmary’s proposal that Beechmount become the National Radium Centre for southeast Scotland, the first of five such centres proposed for the country.

Beechmount on a 1939 Post Office map of Edinburgh, incorrectly labelled as the “East of Scotland Radium Research Institute”. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

With the support of the Commission an additional 80omg of Radium was acquired and combined with the existing supply to form a mass unit of the material that was called a “Radium Bomb“. This made history as the first such Bomb outside of London and meant that treatments could be made indirectly, focussing the emitted radiation towards the tumour from a few inches away, rather than introducing it directly on needles. This new method was far more efficient and effective and was far safer for both the patient and the medical staff. The Commission also provided funding to pay for the running costs of the Bomb and to safely maintain and house it.

Radium Bomb from Westminster Hospital, London, in the early 1930s, built by E. Rock Carling. The gram of Radium is housed in the egg-shaped, lead-shielded container on the left. It is controlled from a distance by the operator on the right, who can position the head and then open a shutter in the “Bomb” housing to expose the tumour to radiation for a precise amount of time. CC-by-SA 4.0, from the Science Museum’s Wellcome Trust Collection.

In 1936, J.J.M. reported that “treatment of malignant disease in certain situations such as the throat by means of the radium mass unit or ‘bomb’ has surpassed anything previously known“. He was joined at this time by Dr Margaret (Peggy) Tod as Honorary Associate Assistant Surgeon. Tod stayed for only a year before moving on to become the Deputy Director of the Holt Radium Institute in Manchester, but made “an outstanding contribution to the pioneering work at Beechmount“. The Infirmary’s capacity to administer radiotherapy increased exponentially as a result of dedicating Beechmount to it; in 1939 it reported over 15,000 treatments had been administered, up from only 907 just five years previously.

Margaret Colville Marshall, 1895-1995, obituary photograph.

From 1937, the matron was Jean Ritchie and she served in this post until 1939 when the Institute was closed “for the duration” and re-purposed as a convalescent Auxiliary Hospital; this scheme was directly funded by central government and allowed patients to be removed from the main Infirmary thus freeing up capacity there for dedicated military use or for civilians injured as a result of air raids. The Radium Bomb was removed to the Infirmary and buried at the bottom of a 40 foot deep well shaft to avoid it resulting in a “dirty bomb” in the event it was hit by an air raid. Sadly, Dr Shaw died on wartime active service with the Royal Army Medical Corps in Cairo in September 1940, aged 54, having contracted dysentery while serving as the Consultant Surgeon to the Army GHQ.

Colonel J. J. M. Shaw in his Royal Army Medical Corps uniform. Picture uploaded to Ancestry by Martin Bainbridge.

After the war, Radiotherapy in Edinburgh was concentrated at the Western General Hospital and Beechmount was not returned to that use. Instead it remained as a 46 bed convalescent home, operated in tandem with the Corstorphine Home and attached to the Royal Infirmary. In 1974, reorganisation of the medical bureaucracy saw Beechmount detached from the Infirmary and grouped in with other small district hospitals in the Lothians to provide specialist geriatric convalescent care.

One long-standing problem of Beechmount was that the building was accessible from the main road only by a very steep set of stairs or a driveway with multiple hairpin bends. In 1969 an ambulance driver did not correctly apply the brakes of his vehicle resulting in it careering 50 yards down the embankment before progress was arrested by a mature tree. Fortunately the occupants, Mrs Ella Hamersley and Mr Charles Baker, suffered only minor injuries. For the benefit of less mobile visitors to the hospital, members of the Corstorphine Rotary Club used their own cars to provide a shuttle service of rides up and down the gradient during visiting hours.

Beechmount House, estate agent’s photo. The modern wing at the back was that built for staff accommodation when it was converted for medical use © 2025 Scarlett Land & Development

In 1987 the Lothian Health Board denied that it had plans to either close Beechmount Hospital or convert it into a unit for the specialised treatment of patients with HIV/AIDS. However the following year it proposed the closure and sale of the hospital amid a widespread rationalisation and cost cutting plan. The Board cited the fact that the facility was costing £360,000 a year to run, its opponents countered that the running costs of convalescent hospital beds was only a third of that at major hospitals like the Royal Infirmary or the Western General. But the site was potentially very valuable to developers and with the support of the Secretary of State for Scotland, in what the Daily Record dubbed the “Sick Sale of the Century“, Scotland’s health boards were backed from the top to dispose of a swathe of surplus property on the open market to raise money for their capital budgets. Beechmount was closed in 1989 and the house and grounds were to be sold the following year for £1.8 million. The sale fell through however, as did a scheme to convert it into a Hotel. In 1993 the Health Board intended to build a new dental hospital at Beechmount but found it could not afford the renovation costs of £6 million. The premises were in the interim leased to the Scottish Wildlife Trust who used it for offices and returned to the market and finally sold by the Health Board in 1996, the former staff accommodation being converted into apartments and returned to residential use. It was on the market again in 2018 for offers over £4.5 million and eventually sold. It is currently (2025) being used as emergency accommodation for those experiencing homelessness.

  1. Story of a Great Hospital. The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh 1729-1929, by A. Logan Turner. ↩︎

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#BankOfScotland #Corstorphine #Health #Hospital #Hospitals #House #Infirmary #Murrayfield #PublicHealth #Radiotherapy #Radium #RoyalInfirmary

Beechmount House, estate agent's photo. © 2025 Scarlett Land & Development1905 Ordnance Survey 1:25 inch map of Edinburghshire, centred on Beechmount (left), Beechwood (centre) and Belmont (right). Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandSir George Anderson, 1911 photographic portrait by Bassano & Vandyk. © National Portrait Gallery, London
earthlingappassionato
2025-05-23

@cstross

It revigorates software.

"Drink radioactive water from the Revigator."

Client Info

Server: https://mastodon.social
Version: 2025.07
Repository: https://github.com/cyevgeniy/lmst