This week, this G-Men Detective cover is your inspiration. I won't tell you where I got it or anything else about it, just respond to it by saying whatever it makes you think of. In fact, this might work better if you don't read the other responses until after you've written your own-- then it will be truly yours and not a continuation of someone else's. that said, here's mine (and I promise I just found this image 2 minutes ago, so don't put an awful lot of thought into what you want to say; obviously, I'm not).
The first question that comes to my mind here is, who exactly is the g-man in this drawing? The guy in blue appears to be a cop, but then, who's dressed up in that HazMat suit? then I have to wonder, if this is Death on the Runways, where's the plane? and what's that planet-shaped thing behind the title?
Radiation is fascinating to me because the human body has absolutely no way of sensing it. Literally, you could be walking around town completely covered in radiation particles(which I always think of as little glowing green dots--thank you, TV) and have no idea. And as you're walking, you're leaving a trail of green dots, and green fingerprints and shoeprints, and other people are picking them up as they follow behind you. Yet, none of you can see, feel, taste, smell, or hear your contamination. The only thing you'll eventually feel is the sickness you may get later, if you received a serious dose. But with most radiation, you just have to change clothes and take a shower and *poof!* all safe! Other types can be treated rather easily, you just have to know you need treatment, which is the tough part. In fact, you are exposed to radiation every day, but the level you get has been deemed safe and acceptable by people who presumably know about such things and you'll just have to trust them until you hear differently.
Although radiation suits, when worn properly, can protect against radiation poisoning, they cannot protect against bullets. This is doubly bad news for our startled HazMat responder, as he's backing away from the cop's gun AND not wearing gloves. Hopefully, HazMat training in Britain has improved since the late '40s: 1.) wear gloves when responding to a dangerous situation, even if you chose to respond with pistols and lasers, and 2.) Try not to anger any local police, even American police, who may be quick to shoot and slow to understand, or 2b.) Wear bullet-proof vests under all HazMat attire.
Despite who the good guys are or why the bad guys are so bad, we have to wonder what the two fellows in the background are shooting. As in, what type of weapon is that, what is coming out of it, and what is whatever's coming out of it actually hitting.
Here's the situation as I understand it: The Russians were building a new, secret super-weapon somewhere on the outskirts of London. Our hero, G-Man Detective (who dresses like an American cop, not a Bobbie, to prove that he's just that cool), is immediately put on the case when Scotland Yard discovers a dead scientist in the general vicinity. After some careful sleuthing, G-Man finds the underground Russian lair and is able to observe the building of this super-weapon. Unfortunately, before he can get word back to Scotland Yard, he is discovered by the Russians and has to fight his way out of the lair and destroy the super-weapon single handedly. All this, of course, he does without breaking a sweat and at some point hooks up (in clean, 1940s fashion) with the hot Russian girl-scientist. Well, maybe not scientist. He hooks up with the hot Russian maid/cook who is actually being held captive by the weapon builders because her father, coincidentally the scientist found dead at the beginning of our story, was asking too many questions about the fairness, power, and implications of the super-weapon.
Why are they building in London? well, the climate is much better there, which is saying something.
5 comments:
You have a really wild imagination and I am super envious (see comment on Nick's post), but I have to say it:
You need to check your facts on radiation. Unless you were kidding.
Can you be specific? I'm no expert, but I'm very curious now as to what was wrong.
I've re-read the EPA pages on radiation (http://www.epa.gov/radiation/understand/index.html) and OSHA's safe practices information (http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/radiation/index.html) and don't see the errors. I also re-read the Radiological Dispersal Devises Best Practice on LLIS.gov, which is DHS's secure network of responders and information that responders need to plan, prepare for, and recover from disasters...and also where I work. I copyedited the RDD Best Practice recently, so I read it pretty thoroughly.
Non-ionizing radiation aside (which is a lot of types to put aside), ionizing radiation come in several types that have varying levels of penetration. Alpha particles, the lightest, can be stopped with something as light as a sheet of paper or sometimes your outer layer of skin. Gamma rays and x-rays require a layer of lead to protect you. Once you're exposed, the most common ways responders decontaminate people is to remove their clothing, give them a decontamination shower, or, in cases when the people are already in the hospital with poisoning, iodine or similar treatments. A dose has to be very severe (although not implausible) to mean death if treatments are provided. But the biggest problems really are knowing when you should try to protect yourself and finding out when you’ve been exposed so you can get treatment.
Of course, this all applies to external exposure only. If you swallow it, you've got bigger problems.
You do have an understanding of the fallout/dirty bomb scenario, which, now that I re-read your original post, seems to be what you are addressing exclusively. I don't mean to ride you about this, I was just confused about the term "radiation particles" and the notion of washing them off. The "particles" you need to wash off in the fallout/dirty bomb scenario are actually atoms of some radioactive isotope (unstable element) which is the cause (or, say, "host") of the radioactivity which can and would fuck your shit up. Alpha particles (helium nuclei) can come flying off those atoms of unstable whatever and they are, in fact, the "heaviest" type of radiation. But they do not penetrate well, which is why they aren't usually a problem, which you state. Beta particles are high energy electrons that can penetrate a bit better than alpha particles, but aren't as dangerous as the x- and gamma rays, as you state. The rays are just invisible kinds of light, so we can't wash them off, by any means. In your scenario, then, it is the atoms of the radiactive element(s) that can be removed with a good scrub and fresh clothes.
So, if there is a dirty bomb and you know about it, take a shower. You can remove the radioactive element that releases the radiation as it decays. If you are some unfortunate dentist whose x-ray machine goes wonky and hits you with 20 times the safe dose of x-rays, you can't just take a shower. You probably can't do anything at all. You can't undo x-rays any more than you can undo a sunburn (UV rays).
The government websites and tips for HazMat folks are only good for the right scenarios. Hiroshima- and Chernobyl-type cases will require more than just Iodine pills and some soap.
So, I guess I am just trying to make sure that two points in particular is clear: you can't wash off radiation, you can only wash off radiactive elements. And in the case of a "super weapon" a large chunk of a radioactive isotope (say, plutonium 239) would release harmful radiation as it decayed, just sitting wherever it sat. People in the vicinity of this chunk would be in the kind of trouble they could not wash off.
(I had to sit through a whole semester's worth of 90-minute lectures in a class called "Nuclear Technology and Global Change." The prof was a bit old and a bit batty and he told us precisely this thing at least 15 times on 15 separate occasions.)
And, for the record, I'm really not trying to be a dick. I'm sorry if I am being one anyway.
Actually, G-Man is my alter ego.
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