Holy Sh!t
O_O
article posted at The Gatehouse
"Radium. More than one million times more radioactive than uranium at the same mass. Made famous by the Curies in their work and potentially also one of the causes of their deaths. Yet radium was the must-have radioactive element of the early twentieth century, so what could be more of a dieselpunk image than lying down for a soak in your bathing costume, sprinkling your radium salts into your nice hot bathtub, ready for that just been irradiated glow?
Radium was touted in medicine as a means of keeping the body healthy. It was in toothpastes, hair cream and radium baths became very popular due to the fascination of healing spas that left the bather brimming with health. It was even suggested as a virility enhancer, although the user may have been sorely disappointed as the radium would have undoubtedly left them sterile.
The chemical slowly left the scene in the 1930s when people who worked with radium-containing paints and parts began developing radiation sickness. This website shows some period examples of what people thought were radium’s positives. It should be stressed that these radium cures are rubbish, although current research is looking into using radium as a treatment for secondary bone cancers."
March 13, 2009 | By Ella Kremper
article posted at The Gatehouse
"Radium. More than one million times more radioactive than uranium at the same mass. Made famous by the Curies in their work and potentially also one of the causes of their deaths. Yet radium was the must-have radioactive element of the early twentieth century, so what could be more of a dieselpunk image than lying down for a soak in your bathing costume, sprinkling your radium salts into your nice hot bathtub, ready for that just been irradiated glow?
Radium was touted in medicine as a means of keeping the body healthy. It was in toothpastes, hair cream and radium baths became very popular due to the fascination of healing spas that left the bather brimming with health. It was even suggested as a virility enhancer, although the user may have been sorely disappointed as the radium would have undoubtedly left them sterile.
The chemical slowly left the scene in the 1930s when people who worked with radium-containing paints and parts began developing radiation sickness. This website shows some period examples of what people thought were radium’s positives. It should be stressed that these radium cures are rubbish, although current research is looking into using radium as a treatment for secondary bone cancers."
March 13, 2009 | By Ella Kremper