Hot, Hot, Hot

There is an interesting little slideshow on the Scientific American website with a few examples of products marketed in the early 20th century that contained radioactive materials. From the home science kit to the beauty products to the supposed health products it is a cross-section of our curiosity and naivety. I suppose we can be glad that we didn’t receive radioactive water in our stockings this year, but the cynic in me wonders what products we will be shaking our heads over in dismay a hundred years from now. [And by "we" I mean humanity collectively, since I seriously doubt I will still be around in another hundred years. And, as much as I love you and wish you all great health, I doubt you will either. Maybe we should agree to check back in say... ten years and shake our heads then. I'm reasonably certain that ten years from now some of what we are doing today will seem extremely stupid in retrospect. I mean, just think about all the stupid stuff we were doing ten years ago.... Wow, I think that's the longest parenthetical tangent to which I've subjected you here!]

So, anyway, as I watched the slideshow [you remember, that's where I started this post] I was reminded of a recent post by Karen over at Miscellaneous Yammering. You should go read that one. There’s always something to make you smile over there! And if you have any brushes with radioactivity that you can share without violating national security, put them in the comments.

Excuse me now. There are men in white coats that seriously want a moment or two of my time….