Americium

Doesn't "organometallic sandwich" sound appetizing?

Molecular compounds with heavy elements, like americium, curium and others can now be synthesized in a streamlined and efficient way thanks to a new technique developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers.

Lightweight composite metal foams are effective at blocking X-rays, gamma rays and neutron radiation, and are capable of absorbing the energy of high impact collisions, and a new finding means the metal foams hold promise for use in nuclear safety, space exploration and medical technology applications.

Bacteria that feed on methanol are able to grow on certain rare earth elements as well as their radioactive relatives. These findings suggest a possible role for such bacteria in the decontamination of areas where actinides are spilled, or in the separation of lanthanides and actinides for analytical or preparative purposes, according to a study published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

A first-in-human clinical trial of an experimental oral drug for removing radioactive contaminants from inside the body has begun. The trial is testing the safety, tolerability and processing in the body of escalating doses of the investigational drug product HOPO 14-1 in healthy adults. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is funding the…

The British government is collaborating to build the world's first space battery powered by the element Americium-241.

This thing keeps going and going and going...

Article URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americium Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33721117 Points: 1 # Comments: 0

Letters to the editor from the December 2021 issue of Scientific American

It's only able to generate tiny amounts of electricity for now

Authorities and officials in Western Australia were scouring a highway on Monday in search of a capsule containing a radioactive substance that went missing earlier this month while in transit.

Article URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hahn Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29943315 Points: 1 # Comments: 0

A new design for a nuclear battery that generates electricity from the radioactive decay of americium is unprecedentedly efficient

The radioactive unit will help to deliver Europe's first Mars rover to the planet's surface

Ministers at the European Space Agency (ESA) recently approved funding for a special project to build nuclear waste-powered batteries for use in space exploration. If successful, the ...

Article URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_reprocessing Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33521065 Points: 1 # Comments: 0