#TodayInHistory: May 21, 1946, naganap ang ikalawang criticality experiment accident na nagresulta sa kamatayan ng Canadian physicist na si Louis Slotin. | Good Morning Kuya

On May 21, 1946, physicist Louis Slotin was performing a high stakes experiment known as “tickling the dragons tail” at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Slotin was using a 6.2 kilogram plutonium core, later known as the Demon Core, to establish the exact point of criticality. He was manually lowering a beryllium tamper over the core using only the blade of a flathead screwdriver to maintain a tiny gap that allowed neutrons to escape. The horror began when the screwdriver slipped

On May 21, 1946, 35-year-old physicist Louis Slotin was conducting a high-stakes experiment at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. He was using a simple flathead screwdriver to manipulate a 6.2-kilogram plutonium core, nicknamed the Demon Core, by propping up a beryllium tamper. The screwdriver slipped just a fraction of an inch, causing the core to go prompt critical. A massive burst of neutron radiation hit Slotin instantly, appearing as a flash of blue light and a wave of heat.

Explicación: En 1946, el físico Louis Slotin trabajaba en Los Alamos con un núcleo de plutonio llamado "el núcleo del demonio". Para medir su punto crítico ( ), usaba dos semiesferas de berilio que envolvían el material, separadas apenas por un destornillador. Durante el experimento, la herramienta resbaló y las esferas se cerraron. Un destello azul llenó la sala: el plutonio había alcanzado la criticidad. Slotin logró abrirlas ensequida, salvando a los demás, pero recibió una dosis letal de rad