marcusregulus
marcusregulus t1_izeixui wrote
Reply to comment by thexylom in A recent study and a project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture show that chestnut agroforestry systems improved soil health and increased soil carbon sequestration in both the short term and the long term by thexylom
The American chestnut is the native species, and as such, has adapted characteristics enabling it to be a competitive forest tree (tall and straight, climate adaptations etc.) that the Chinese tree somewhat lacks. The blight resistant American chestnut tree under development by TACF and SUNY is a transgenic organism. Meaning that a gene from wheat has been inserted (oxalate oxidase.)
We eat this gene in massive quantities every day, but you know how some people are about transgenic technology.
marcusregulus t1_ixb36d1 wrote
At one time, dental gold was amalgamated with lead and mercury. Gold taken from the mouths of many victims of the holocaust (Shoah) had lead/mercury amalgams. If the gold item in question has quantifiable amounts of lead and mercury then it is likely a 20th century construct.
What the lead and mercury isotopes are and what the concentration would need to be in order to identify it as dental gold is beyond me.
marcusregulus t1_jbay1yq wrote
Reply to comment by drhunny in How do plutonium based atom bombs work? What chemical reactions happen that make them explode? by L0RD_E
My understanding of the issue of a critical mass and nuclear fission with Plutonium is that you need Pu239. The nuclear reaction to create Pu239 also creates Pu240. Pu240, being only one mass number difference is very hard to separate from Pu239. A gun design is not fast enough to initiate a fission reaction with Pu, thus an implosion design is needed.
Basically, to generate the heat, pressure, and neutron flux to ignite a fusion reaction, takes a fission reaction first.