I-131: NOT AN INTERSTATE
Interesting article on how we are using proteins from Israeli scorpion venom combined with radioactive isotope Iodine-131 for an attempted treatment for gliomas. Everyone in my industry is jazzed about this because they get to say or write "Radioactive Scorpion Venom!!!"
Read the article here: http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/521506/
Some interesting facts about I-131 (I apologize for not being well-read in scorpions and their venom) : Commonly used in nuclear medicine, it emits beta and gamma radiation and has a half-life of just over 8-days. The emissions cannot be attenuated adequately enough from within the human body, so patients treated or injected for diagnostic purposes are deemed "hot." Most interestingly, it looks as if our Homeland Security Department is actually doing an OK job at detecting radioisotopes in transit and/or travel. Patients will be detected in airports, depending on the dose they had been given, up to a period of a couple weeks.
Read that one here: http://rsna2004.rsna.org/rsna2004/V2004/conference/event_display.cfm?em_id=4407767
In other news, there's a Korean bank near my apartment complex that has the most unusual looking emblem. I think it looks like some kind of 3-legged chicken alien with more than one backside. Take a looksie:
