Charles Darwin's Darwin Awards 
HOME
Darwin Awards
Honorable Mentions
Urban Legends
Personal Accounts
Slush Pile
2006 September Rejects
Now say "I need oxygen"
I want to fly like a bird!
Copper thieves get killed cutt
Boy sets fire to himself
Old lady killed by own car
Steve Irwin the Croc Hunter
Man Falls To Death During Spit
A Leap of Faith
Wood Chipper Wins Again
Hit Man strangled by victim
Guarding the camp !
Man spent life picking himself
the cable thief
Woman dies after choking at fa
stupid people and bridges
Jumpin' the Train
Tree Kills Tree-feller
Steve Erwin?
witch doctor and animal sex
Cop Commits Suicide After Perf
POed Panda
Fisherman electrocutes himself
dumb people and bridges
historic contender
Memory Pillow
Man Dies trying to steal wire
Baby drowns in mothers vomit.
Darwin Organizations
Which Way Is It?
Public Toilet Explosion
2 Teens Killed on RR Tracks
Panda Bites Man, Man Bites Bac
Dangers of the reef
Blood drawing project leads t
Zapped stealing copper wire
Cave Diving NOT by the rules
Chubby Bunny
Man Bites Panda
Panda Bites Man
Man Killed Trying to Steal Ele
darwin awards
Man Killed Trying to Steal Ele
spearfisherman killed by prey
Women Trapped In Car
Why Sonic runs funny.
Wild Wild West quick draw
Bricklstealer killed by bricks
Marshmallow Mishap
Kite -flyer killed.
Man Dies Trying To Take Street
Testing the Faith
Grouper turns tables on diver
He had no fear of snakes
Car crashes through 2nd story
fear of heights confirmed
Electric man electrocuted
dumb cop
Chubby bunny
Death by Chubby Bunny
2 Tables
Hitman strangled by nurse
Man dies in molasses pit
Brit dies in pool contest
Marshmallows cause death
Blind Luck
Woman Chokes on Marshmallows
Death by Marshmallow
Death By Marshmallow
Woman dies at eating contest
Marshmallows are dangerous
Cambodian Man Stung to Death b
next stop is...
Cambodian Man Stung to Death b
Dumb Bunny
Dummy + 30 bug foggers = boom
Choking chubby bunny
Brit dies in pool 'contest'
"entertrain" yourself
Broadside of a Barn
Electric Man gets electrocuted
TV transmitter death
Marshmallow Mishap
Fish Kills Spear-Fishing Diver
Fish Kills Spear-Fishing Diver
Vietnam's 'Electric Man' Elect
Fish Kills Spear-Fishing Diver
Tickling the dragon's tail
No see, no hear
Perfectly safe
Car Makes Fatal Flight
Look mom i'm evil kneivel
Man Electrocuted Stealing Wire
Electric man electrocuted
Drive Through Apartment
Marshamallow Choke
read the sign
Keys are for Wimps
Death by Bailing Machine
Car goes airborne
Fishing against current
clever fisherman electrocuted
Some people never learn...
Fish throws man back
How not to open a window
Super Grouper
Hung Electric
IF I TOLD YOU TO JUMP OFF.....
Man drowned by grouper
No Helmet No Brains
Fish kills spear-fishing diver
Man breaks leg after he, daugh
Electric man electrocuted
Vietnam's Electric Man electro
Fish kills spear-fishing diver
One that didn't get away
One shock too many
Fish Kills Spear-Fishing Diver
VIETNAM ELECTRIC MAN
Hung Electric
Goose that led a man to his de
Hung Electric
Electric Man Electrocuted
A high voltage fisherman.
A high voltage fisherman.
MIRACLE IS SUNK
fisherman electrocutes himself
Steve Irwin
Man dies in own fire
Horse Fucker
Lawn Mower Man
Wrong door
Parallel Parking's Tough
Butt Rocket
Auto-Erotica
the not so great escape
Wait Till You Get Home
walking on water...
Why try?
Exposure Death from Lawn Mower
Itchy Trigger Finger
Heart was in the Right Place
Look before you Glide
Steve Irwin
dying for a high
Exploding Pants
Leap between truck trailer
Steve Irwin
Steve Irwin's Death
ERRENT MOTORIST RUNS OVER SELF
Steve Irwin
Exploding Crotch
Steve Irwin
Car Surfing
Steve Irwin
Animal lover.
Steve Irwin Killed by Stingray
Croc Hunter
Steve Irwin Lifetime Achieveme
Evangelist drowns trying to wa
Crocodile Hunter
Swinging for Darwin
'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin
Pet Python Kills Man in Indian
Walking on Water Finale
Crikey!
Man dead huffing & Puffing
Man dead huffing & Puffing
When the croc bites...
Steve "Stingray" Irwin
Stingray revenge
Southern Indiana man crushed t
Pet Python Kills Man in Indian
Steve Irwin
Stung ray
Snake Doctor
Steve Irwin
Crocodile Hunter no more
Lifetime Achievement Award
sting rays sting
Freak clash with stingray kill
Naturalist Gets Darwin Award
Nature Lover barbed
steve erwin
Heart Stung
MIRACLE IS SUNK
Crocodile Hunter Killed
Steve Irwin - Crocodile Hunter
Lifetime Achievement Award
steve irwin: death by stingray
Steve Irwin
Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter
man finally meets his maker
Steve Irwin killed by stinray
Stephen Robert "Steve" Irwin
Steve Irwin
S. Irwin The Real Croc Dundee!
CRIKEY!
Steve Irwin
Steve Irwin
Steve Irwin
4'o clock Tea (kind off..)
Shallow End Dive
"Crocodile Hunter" Irwin dies
Croc Hunter killed by stingray
Croc Hunter Killed by Ray
Should Have Stuck With Crocs
The Crocodile Hunter
Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin K
Crocodile Hunter
Steve Irwin killed by stingray
Steve Irwin - Crocodile Hunter
Steve Irwin
crocadile hunter dies
Not A Crock
Crocodile Hunter dies...
Crocodile Hunter
Crocodile Hunter
Steve Irwin is dead...
Now where did we park it?
Croc Hunter Croaks
Croc Hunter finally got killed
Crocodile Hunter killed by Sti
Steve Irwin Finally Dies
Crikey!
Steve Irwin killed by stingray
Bike rider in Boulder Creek hi
Walking (on? under.) water
Miracle is sunk
Walking on water! Or not...
Priest in Gabun
Wet Pastor
Student Dies Jumping Train
Pastor tries to walk on water
Man hit by own trailer while d
Evangelist drowns trying to wa
Evangelist drowns trying to wa
Out Of The Frying Pan...
TESTING THE FAITH
Older Rejects 
 
~ Randomizer ~
Newsletter
Gift Shop
Rules  Search
Contact Darwin
Submit a Story
Philosophy Forum
Home

  

Darwin Awards
2006 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

Tickling the dragon's tail

2006 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

There are two published events of a scientist accientally "almost" detonating a nuclear bomb in a lab:

1) Due to DROPPING A BRICK that reflects radiation onto a plutonium sphere:

Harry K. Daghlian, Jr., (1921 – September 15, 1945) was a physicist who died from performing a critical mass experiment at the remote Omega Site laboratory at the Manhattan Project Los Alamos laboratory in New Mexico, on August 21, 1945.

Daghlian was irradiated as a result of a criticality accident which occurred when he accidentally dropped a small tungsten carbide brick onto a 6.2 kg plutonium bomb core. This core, available at the close of World War II, was probably the core for the next intended atomic bomb to be used on Japan, never dropped.

In the experiment, the tungsten bricks were being slowly added around the core, being used as neutron reflectors, which serve to reduce the mass required for plutonium to be critical. Eventually, enough bricks would have been added to allow the assembly to go into a controlled critical nuclear reaction, as a miniature nuclear reactor. This last step was not to have been done by a scientist working alone, however, and Daghlian was breaking regulations by working on it late at night in the lab. Since the assembly was nearly in the critical state, the accidental addition of the last brick caused the reaction to go immediately into the prompt critical region of supercritical behavior.

The radiation event which accompanied prompt criticality was accompanied by A BLUE GLOW (!!!) of ionization. Although no explosion occured, the release of heat was nearly enough to melt the sphere, and probably a meltdown was averted only by the thermal expansion of the sphere and by Daghlian's immediate and reflexive move to knock the extra brick away with his hand.

2) Due to SLIPPING OF A SCREWDRIVER by which another scientist a few years later regulated distance between different radiation reflectors outside the very same plutonium Sphere (later to be named "demon core"):

Louis Slotin (December 1, 1910 – May 30, 1946) was a Canadian physicist/chemist who took part in the Manhattan Project. He died of massive radiation poisoning after a criticality accident at Los Alamos.

In May 1946, Slotin, among others, was in a laboratory doing an experiment that involved creation of the beginning of the fission reaction by placing two half-spheres of beryllium (a neutron reflector) around a plutonium core. The experiment was nicknamed "tickling the dragon's tail" after a remark by Richard Feynman that it was "tickling the tail of a sleeping dragon" due to its flirtations with nuclear chain reaction. Slotin grasped the upper beryllium hemisphere with his left hand through a thumb hole at the top while he maintained the separation of the half-spheres by a blade of a screwdriver with his right hand, having removed the shims normally used. Using a screwdriver was not a normal part of the experimental protocol.

On May 21, the screwdriver slipped, the upper beryllium hemisphere fell and caused a "prompt critical" reaction, resulting in a burst of hard radiation. The "blue glow" of air ionization was observed and a "heat wave" was felt by the scientists in the room. Slotin instinctively jerked his left hand upward, lifting the upper beryllium hemisphere and dropping it to the floor. While he succeeded in ending the critical reaction and protecting seven other observers in the room, he exposed himself to a lethal dose (around 2100 rems, or 21 sv) of neutron and gamma radiation, in history's second criticality accident. In addition to the blue glow and heat, Slotin experienced a sour taste in his mouth and an intense burning sensation in his left hand (probabbly due to instant destruction of his nerves!). As soon as Slotin left the building, he vomited, a common reaction from exposure to extremely intense ionizing radiation. He bacame the hardest irradiated human being in history untill the horrible Chernobyl incident.

Slotin's colleagues rushed him to hospital but Slotin was aware of his condition and, realizing he would die, is said to have remarked: "You'll be OK, but I think I'm done for." Louis Slotin died nine days later on May 30.

Original texts can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_K._Daghlian%2C_Jr. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Slotin

I simply can't believe how careless those two gyus and their authorities were!!! Is there a single possible riskier thing a person can do on Earth???

Please, edit the article(s) before publishing, I sent you those original texts only as an info.

Best regards, Lazar P.

Submitted on 09/14/2006

Submitted by: Anonymous
Reference: wikipedia,

Copyright © 2006 DarwinAwards.com

>> Moderator Scores <<

James said:
Definitely Toss: Not Amusing
Death in the name of science is sometimes DA worthy, but not in this case. Firstly, precious little was known about the full effects of radiation, and secondly, these were lab accidents and not the result of deliberate carelessness or horseplay on the part of amateurs. Granted, fatigue was a factor, but these men were dedicated to their work. Not quite enough stupidity for me, but I DO see where you intended to go with this. Thanks for submitting just the same!


Fitzroy said:
Neutral: For Darwin's Eyes
It is true that these people were taking crazy chances with immense power, but they were under unthinkable pressure at the end of a global war and the start of humanity's biggest arms race. Also, it sounds like both men were smart enough to avert much greater disaster even during their own moments of certain doom. I do not see these scientists as candidates for a Darwin Award, but the stories were fascinating enough I thought maybe they ought to be passed along as points of interest.


Sheryl said:
Definitely Toss: Not Amusing
Thanks for the story. I see these a bit the same as wanting to award Marie Curie a DA. The dates of the stories show that both men were probably working under extreme stress and pressure. I see them as accidents, not stupidity.


Jorge said:
Definitely Toss: For Darwin's Eyes
I do not think any of these gentleman was DA material. I would really like to hear Darwin's thoughts on this one.


The Darwin Awards Gift Shop

The Darwin Awards Condom

Keep yourself out of the gene pool!
A condom in a matchbook, useful for emergency contraception, bachelor parties, frat parties, and important rites of passage. LOADED inside and out with funny quotes and stories. Everyone loves this item!
Friends don't let friends reproduce!
$13 for Pack of 4

 

 

Slush Pile
Slush Pile Rejects


Advanced Search

HomeRulesFAQsAwardsSlushSite Map
DarwinAward | HonorableMention | PersonalAccount | UrbanLegend

>> The Darwin Awards, by Wendy Northcutt <<
Link to Fight Evil.