Talk:2321: Low-Background Metal

Spoiler Alert for Avengers Endgame next comment 162.158.75.60 20:36, 18 June 2020 (UTC)

I can't help but notice that the basic premise of this comic is very much like the reason for going back to 1970 in Avengers: Endgame, when they needed more Pym particles for time travel. I wonder if Randall re-watched it again recently? — KarMann (talk) 17:10, 17 June 2020 (UTC)

Whoa! Spoiler alert! Disney Plus won't have Infinity War until next week. I'm not watching them out of order! Mathmannix (talk) 12:16, 18 June 2020 (UTC)

Oh, that's new to me, that they use roman ships to get to higher quantities of lead. For Steel they use German ships. after world war I, the german high seas fleet was captured and put under arrest in scottish waters. To not allow the enemy to utilize the ships, they all sank themselfes. wikisource --Lupo (talk) 05:46, 18 June 2020 (UTC)

Drawing

There's one leg of the time-machine missing from the 3rd panel. (or is it the side of a base?) --162.158.155.126 19:57, 17 June 2020 (UTC)

Mined lead

Pb-210 (half-life 20.4 years) is a decay product of radon, and thus accumulates everywhere that is exposed to the atmosphere or where radon seeps from the ground. I suspect it could be a contaminant in lead from some lead mines, but wasn't able to find any references ShadwellNH (talk) 20:00, 17 June 2020 (UTC) Paul

One use only?

The way I understand it, the time machine is one-use unless you find other Low-Background Metal. If you find it, you can make more trips. It would appear that the trip is successful. --188.114.103.129 01:31, 18 June 2020 (UTC)

So you'd say a car is also one-use, unless you find a gas station? 162.158.158.167 08:51, 18 June 2020 (UTC)

No, but if the parts it was made of had to be replaced after every trip, I definitely would. 172.69.70.117 16:59, 18 June 2020 (UTC)

Sure, but the ability to rebuild the car with completely new material doesn't turn it into a multi-use car. 141.101.98.130 04:11, 19 June 2020 (UTC)

Real life use of this lead?

Does anyone know whether there is any truth whatsoever to scientists using lead from sunken ships to shield delicate equipment? Obviously not time machines, but there are some pieces of equipment that might be sensitive to radiation.

Also, would lead that was in the ocean actually be safer from nuclear fallout than lead that was underground and mined after the nuclear testing ended? 108.162.216.172 03:31, 18 June 2020 (UTC)

Yes. At least it is done with steel. [1][2][3] 172.69.33.129 04:50, 18 June 2020 (UTC)

Low Background Lead is also used, mentioned in the Good article. The equipment that need this stuff is mostly radiation sensors, very precise ones that can detect even smallest amounts of radiation. And for the last Question, you can't find pure natural lead, its mostly contaminated with radioactive elements (most lead in the universe results from decay chains). And common lead is made through recycling. Ancient lead from roman ships had enough time for the radioactive elements to decay into stable lead. --141.101.105.114 06:12, 18 June 2020 (UTC)

May be complicated

The 1968 Story Hawk among Sparrows discusses the problems modern war hardware may have when used against old tech. -- 141.101.76.82 07:39, 18 June 2020 (UTC)

This was also part of the premise of the 1980 movie "Final Countdown", when the aircraft carrier Nimitz shows up in the Pacific Ocean on December 6, 1941. Nutster (talk) 13:38, 18 June 2020 (UTC)

Biggles: The Movie had a WW1 flying ace take a 1980s helicopter (ostensibly unarmed, except fortuitously/inevitably against the Big Bad Weapon) back to his era, thanks to a Time-Twin plotline. Thus, IIRC it only did well to defend against era-local aicraft by the mythical skill of the eponymous pilot, and was handily lost once the temporal-trickery job was finally accomplished. If you enjoy that era of kitcsh then I'd suggest you not pass up a viewing, even if not actually seek it out. 141.101.98.130 17:11, 18 June 2020 (UTC)

• I am also mildly disappointed that the helicopter is not Airwolf. Nutster (talk) 03:11, 19 June 2020 (UTC)

Safer alternative?

They could just send a cache of modern lead back in time and wait till it cools down. 141.101.76.82 06:30, 19 June 2020 (UTC) Naah, that would totally violate causality. Not to mention that you'd now have the exact same atoms existing in two spatial places at the same time. That could quite easily lead to the Earth being engulfed in a giant wormhole. Cellocgw (talk) 10:05, 19 June 2020 (UTC)