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Old 12-02-06, 08:24 PM   #3
tycho102
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The polonium is interesting.

It emits very low energy beta, neutron, and gamma radiation. Such that it can be completely attenuated by a lead-lined snuff box. It's a highly active alpha emitter (~138 days halflife). The toxicity of polonium is pretty much the same level as with uranium and plutonium, meaning that even if the radiation didn't cause significant damage, the metal is still highly poisonous. Although, I have not found it's specific reaction mechanism. Uranium and plutonium pull hydroxyl groups off molecules, resulting in a lot of disfunctional enzymes and other proteins, and polonium probably does something similar. It's also fairly common with industrial applications, so it was a pretty good choice.

I still do not rule out Putin or the Red Mob.



However, we should all be sh*tting and/or urinating our pants over this. This stuff got spread all over the place, and was never detected. When ingested, alpha particles do 20x the damage that a neutron emitter would do. One gram of this stuff (it's very dense, so it doesn't take much for one gram) will have you bleeding from every single muscosial membrane in your entire body.

I imagine it was put into whatever was being drank at the restaurant. Probably doped into a tablet which was designed to solvate into polar liquids (water, wine, beer). If any of the liquid got on someone's hands, they'd still be spreading it even after washing them.



A very wicked security issue, not to mention the actual murder.
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