Shit MY Dad Says:

From: Kai
Date: Sat, Jan 7, 2012 at 1:02 PM
Subject: Re: ¿20?
To: caiti

Also, funny joke for you (your dad might appreciate it more):
Marie Curie enters a party, and the hostess walks up to her and says, “Madame Curie, you look great!  You’re positively glowing!!!”

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Forward To: Dad
Date: Sat, Jan 7, 2012 at 1:16 PM
Subject: Fwd: Re: ¿20?
From: caiti

i don’t get it…?

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From: Dad
Date: Sat, Jan 7, 2012 at 1:54 PM
Subject: Re: Fwd: Re: ¿20?
To: caiti

Dear Caitlin,

Marie Curie and her husband Pierre discovered radium and the radioactivity of this element. If a thing is highly radioactive people say that it will glow.  It can glow related to Cherenkov radiation, surrounding phosphorescent materials, or due to heat when the radioactivity gets out of control like in a meltdown or an atomic explosion.

Most radioactive materials do not glow.  A small hunk of uranium would not glow by itself.  Marie Curie did not glow in reality but the joke is funny because some might recognize that she did not glow but but would recognize the relationships noted above between radioactivity and glowing.

Marie died from aplastic anemia (in which bone marrow does not make new blood cells) due to exposure to too much radiation:

The characteristic of radio luminescence is a real one.  See the following:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioluminescence

It occurs when a radioactive material is mixed with another material whose electrons can be excited  (to go into a higher orbit) by the radiation and then emit light when the excited electrons drop back to their unexcited state/orbit.

As a kid I had a watch that had a radio luminescent face so I could read the time in the dark.  They do not make these any longer due to risks of radiation.

This may be TMI but I had fun typing it.  I hope all is well.

Love,

Dad