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Plutonium is 1000x less toxic than Botox (and other science facts)

By | January 27, 2011, 11:02 AM PST

Richard Muller, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, thinks science can be fun.

It’s not surprising, then, that his book, The Instant Physicist, was inspired by the raw nature of Ripley’s Believe it or Not.

Muller writes:

Whether you are a world leader or just a voting citizen, you’ll improve your judgment by knowing some key facts and numbers. And what better way to learn them than through humor?

Like the fact that alcohol is required by law to be radioactive – it’s something so memorable that you never forget it.

His book includes plenty more bet-you-didn’t-know-it’s-true facts, such as:

  • You really can get your clothes whiter than white.
  • Earth is traveling through space at a million miles per hour. (Hang on!)

Source: Robert Sanders via Richard Muller. The illustration is from Muller’s book, “The Instant Physicist: An Illustrated Guide.” (W.W. Norton & Company.)

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Boonsri Dickinson

About Boonsri Dickinson

Boonsri Dickinson was a contributing editor for SmartPlanet from 2010 to 2012.

Boonsri Dickinson

Boonsri Dickinson

Contributing Editor

Boonsri Dickinson is a freelance journalist based in San Francisco. She has written for Discover, The Huffington Post, Forbes, Nature Biotech, Technewsdaily.com, Techstartups.com and AOL. She's currently a reporter for Business Insider. She holds degrees from the University of Florida and the University of Colorado at Boulder.

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Boonsri Dickinson

Boonsri Dickinson

In the unlikely event that Boonsri has a professional or financial relationship with a company she writes about, it will be prominently disclosed.

She writes for SmartPlanet and is not an employee of CBS.

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RE: Plutonium is 1000x less toxic than Botox (illustration)
It is always a good idea to relate one known fact to an unknown fact.
i will always remember now that Botox is dangerous because of this
plutotonium comparison.
Posted by dickinsonre
27th Jan 2011
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RE: Plutonium is 1000x less toxic than Botox (illustration)
Math fact: "1000 times less" does not mean "1/1000th of". You would think that professor Muller would know better than to use that kind of language.
Posted by AlanLaRue
28th Jan 2011
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Doubtful
I just tested a bottle full of cherry liquor with a Geiger counter. It
wasn't radioactive. Which country's law requires it to be
radioactive, and is it only liquor made in that country? Why does it
have to be radioactive? Can I sue the legislators if I get cancer
from drinking that countrys alkohol?
As for comparing Botox to plutonium is like compairing trees to
bicycles, they are dangerous in different ways.
I have read other such books too where some of the "facts" are
clearly made up. Like the book "1001 Shocking Science Facts" in
which many of the claims are wrong, including the name of the
book: there are actually only about 700 facts, the rest are same
things told in a different way. Also, I know of two professors who
sometimes say whatever their mouth lets out, so being a
professor doesn't mean being always right. This is especially true
in germany where commercial ads often include some professor,
doctor or other to add "credibility".
Posted by Dukhalion
28th Jan 2011
0 Votes
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The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms tests alcoholic beverages for radioactivity and actually rejects any alcohol that doesn?t emit radiation, deeming it ?unfit.? The reason is that any alcohol with zero radioactivity must?ve come from very old carbon, which usually means the alcohol has been manufactured from fossil fuels

Read more: http://blogcritics.org/tastes/article/q-can-we-drink-radioactive-alcohol/#ixzz1CMvExvgP
Posted by rykerabel@...
28th Jan 2011
0 Votes
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RE: Plutonium is 1000x less toxic than Botox (illustration)
What kind of math makes Plutonium 1000 times less toxic than Botox?
Posted by guywayne
31st Jan 2011
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