Nuclear Weapons | The Episodic Table of Elements

56. Barium: Glow-Getter

March 9, 2020

6:00 am

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Alchemy, Computers, Electricity, Electronics, Humphry Davy, John Fleming, Lee de Forest, Medicine, Nuclear Weapons, Thomas Edison

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When you really want to suck all the air out of a room, barium will help you out.

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47. Silver: Our Own Image

October 14, 2019

6:00 am

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Atomic Energy Commission, Glass, Johann Heinrich Schulze, Justus von Liebig, Kenneth Nichols, Kodak, Leslie Groves, Medicine, Nuclear Weapons, Oak Ridge National Labs, Photography, Pliny the Elder, Psychology, South America

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Silver is more than just a precious metal. It’s also a reflection of ourselves.

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38. Strontium: Little Town

June 3, 2019

6:00 am

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Atomic Structure, Mining, Nuclear Weapons, Pharmaceuticals, Radioactivity, Russia, Television, Women In Science

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Let’s look past the bad reputation this element has to learn how it’s an essential part of an idyllic childhood.

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27. Cobalt: Mischief Managed

December 17, 2018

6:00 am

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Albert Einstein, Chien-Shiung Wu, Fallout, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Georg Brandt, Leo Szilard, Magnetism, Medicine, Mining, Mythology, Nobel Prizes, Nuclear Weapons, Parity, Radioactivity, Symmetry, Wolfgang Pauli, Women In Science, World War II

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Cobalt is a tricksy little element, which means the scientists who’ve dealt with it the most are some of the cleverest people to have ever walked the Earth.

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