Re: Radioactive decay and long-term preservation

From: David Lubkin (lubkin@unreasonable.com)
Date: Fri Oct 22 1999 - 10:30:35 MDT


Once full-blown nanotech is here, is it feasible to go through an object
atom-by-atom and replace all radioisotopes (not just the C14) with
non-radioactive isotopes?

How would the waste isotopes be safely removed from the object?

Could this be done in vivo to living objects?

Can a form of utility fog be used to prevent new radioisotopes in the
object by blocking (a) intake of radioisotopes and (b) creation of
radioisotopes by external influences (cosmic rays, etc)? Is it an
inherent consequence of quantum mechanics that you can't prevent
formation of radioisotopes within an object?

Beyond Spike's examples, what uses would there be for completely
non-radioactive objects? Perhaps in scientific research?

What uses would there be for objects whose radioactivity is precisely
positioned?

What would be the biological and geological repercussions if the entire
planet, from core to biosphere, were made radioactivity-free? What
would the impact on evolution have been if this had been done by a
Power a few billion years ago?

-- David Lubkin.

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