"What's the half-life of a banana"

Around my place, when the grandkids are visiting, about 45seconds.

Snowy 2.0 isn't about improving the electricity grid.

Its a political tool. Snowy 2.0 allows the government (and opposition for that matter) to assure disgruntled voters that they have the answer to their electricity power bills.

At some point there will be a reckoning about how the political elite 'managed' to turn Australia from an efficient low cost power nation to an inefficient very high (highest) cost producer.

So the political aim is to kick that reckoning down the track, beyond the next election.

In that respect, Snowy 2.0 is massively successful even without generating a single watt of power. Of course, the nation will be lumped with a $10 billion white elephant but winning an election is much more important than mere government debt.

Tony Lavis. Bananas are a good source of potassium which contains a significant amount of a radioactive isotope. If you have access to a geiger counter you might like to try using it on a banana. You will be surprised at the result.

From Wikipaedia "Bananas are slightly radioactive because they contain potassium and potassium decays. Potassium is a necessary substance for healthy operation of your body. You would have to eat a LOT of bananas just to compete with the natural potassium dose of your body. ... No one ever developed radiation sickness from eating bananas.
Isotope mass‎: ‎39.96399848
Half-life‎: ‎1.251(3)×10^9 years"

David

VK3AUU - Are you sujesting it is better for people to eat Uranium rather than bananas?

//Bananas are a good source of potassium which contains a significant amount of a radioactive isotope. If you have access to a geiger counter you might like to try using it on a banana. You will be surprised at the result.//

David, I'm quite aware that bananas contain high levels of K and therefore K-40. I'm not disputing that they're more radioactive than the average piece of fruit; I am having a dig at Alan's claim that thorium is 'less radioactive than a banana'. Less radioactive than K-40, yes... but less radioactive than a banana? I have been over this ground with him before, and apparently he didn't learn last time around.

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=19664#348660

I still stand by my argument that even if we agree on the radioactivity of a standard banana (which sounds like a fun exercise in metrology), without a specified quantity of Th-232 the claim is meaningless. I also stand by the claim that on a mass for mass, or mole for mole (insofar as it makes sense to speak of a mole of bananas) basis, thorium is definitely more radioactive.

But feel free to correct me if you think I'm wrong; I enjoy discussing science with people that aren't complete crackpots.

Anyway, I'm off to eat some brazil nuts. I'm hoping they'll give me super powers, like Captain Misinformation. Did you know that the average brazil nut is more radioactive than a supercritical mass of Pu-239? ;)

No, he's not Philip! And almost the most ridiculous retort you've posted to date. Bananas are a natural source of Potassium 40 and therefore slightly radioactive.
As for the half-life of potassium 40? My Granddaddy would have said. I would'na clue!
The rest of the banana would have decayed beyond recognition, and therefore no way of knowing. Suffice to say, the next crop can and does suck up a share from the soil.
Interestingly, some crops like industrial hemp do much the same thing in irradiated soil to permanently remove enough of the isotopes over time, to completely decontaminate an area and bring the rads down to where they're low enough to allow people and fauna and flora to safely re-establish! Finally, understand this. The longer the half-life, the less radioactive the material!
Alan B.