jwm@stda.jhuapl.edu (Jim Meritt) (09/19/89)
In article <1292@argus.UUCP> ken@argus.UUCP (Kenneth Ng) writes: }In article <27300001@iuvax>, hagerp@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu writes: }: I am appalled by continued statements by the neo-Luddite crowd that }: "... plutonium is the most toxic substance known to man, with one }: pound -- if evenly distributed -- capable of causing cancer in }: every human being on the planet ...". If this statement is true }: WHY AREN'T WE ALL DEAD??? }[edit] }: So, I ask again -- if plutonium is so dangerous, why aren't we all }: dead. } }Because I believe the proper term is "if properly distributed". }The proper means is that if every man woman and child stands in line, }gets the proper dosage of plutonium, and fails to see the doctor on }a regular basis for the next 20-40 years. However, I really doubt }one could do so. By similar notion the annual production of hydrogen }cyanide could theoritcally kill six trillion people, if we could get }everyone to stand in line and inhale exactly the proper amount. And one cup of water, "if properly distributed" could kill hundreds. All you have to do is get each to inhale a spoonfull.. "In these matters the only certainty is that nothing is certain" - Pliny the Elder These were the opinions of : jwm@aplvax.jhuapl.edu - or - jwm@aplvax.uucp - or - meritt%aplvm.BITNET