radioactive isotopes

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Canister of Radioactive Material Stolen in Britain

Police say it's safe ... if it stays in its lead container

(Newser) - Police in Lancashire are asking the public for help and urging them to be careful after a canister containing a small amount of Iridium 192 was stolen from a van there this weekend. The pilfered material—which is housed in a foot-long yellow canister and is used in cancer-fighting radiotherapy,...

Chernobyl Victims Still Face Greater Cancer Risk

Study's timing amid Japan nuclear crisis pure coincidence

(Newser) - It’s been almost a quarter of a century, but kids who consumed contaminated milk or affected cheese soon after the Chernobyl crisis still face a heightened thyroid cancer risk, a study finds. Researchers have kept tabs on 12,500 subjects who were under 18 and lived near Chernobyl when...

Iran Offers US Meeting With Nuke Experts

Ahmadinejad says country wants to buy 'medicinal' uranium

(Newser) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he’d be willing to let Iran’s nuclear scientists meet with experts from the US and other world powers in an effort to alleviate suspicions about the country’s nuclear program. Iran also intends to attempt to buy uranium from the US during international negotiations next...

Radioactive Isotope Shortage Stalls Medical Tests

(Newser) - Trouble at nuclear reactors that produce two-thirds of the world’s medical isotopes have created massive testing delays in the US, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The isotopes, created in Canada and the Netherlands, are used for presurgery stress tests and to locate some cancers; doctors are limping along with older,...

Contrary to Opinion, Human Heart Regenerates

(Newser) - In a result defying popular opinion, the human heart regenerates about half of its cells over the course of a normal lifespan, the New York Times reports. A study used levels of a radioactive isotope in the earth’s atmosphere released by aboveground nuclear tests, and found in our bodies,...

Wanted: Small Amounts of Plutonium
Wanted: Small Amounts of Plutonium
Mar 3, 2009 3:47 PM CST

Wanted: Small Amounts of Plutonium

US agency ferrets out unused radioactive sources

(Newser) - The country is crawling with unused radioactive material, and it’s up to the little-known National Nuclear Security Administration to dispose of it, the Los Angeles Times reports. They're not after warheads, but small amounts of plutonium used in medical and technological pursuits in more than 130 countries, as even...

Fat Cell Numbers Don't Bulge: Study

Fat cells remain stable throughout life

(Newser) - The number of fat cells is set for a lifetime in childhood, a new study indicates. The latest research into obesity reveals fundamental new insights into why some people become fat and why it is so hard for overweight people to keep excess pounds off—even after a successful diet,...

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