What's in the Box?

[@taralovescm]

Professor, the day I received your card was the happiest day of my life (seriously) and I'm so happy you took the time to reply. I was having a rubbish holiday season and that made it. Most teenager's idols are pop stars but you're a real role model

[@trefod]

Some politician is handed a piece of history to hide away on a book shelf while the scientist, the real contributor to society, showing a childlike enthusiasm and understanding of the significance is handed a stupid ball point pen.

[@MyTurtleCollab]

Thoroughly enjoyed the video

[@periodicvideos]

thank you

[@DudokX]

'My reactor already collapsed!' - 'Oh dear!' I like when Brady does that.

[@FilipVoska]

Somebody send the professor a piece of carbon :)

[@isupermandude]

Anyone else think that the Professor totally deserves that Carbon?

[@nerdbot4446]

What´s in the box? Schrödinger´s cat (compressed)

[@chopinbloc]

5:46 We could reprocess the "waste" like France does but GE makes buckets of money being the only authorized producer of fuel rods. So instead of reprocessing it, we just let it sit, then complain about how much waste there is, when in reality most of that "waste" is useful material.

[@mercatorpsi]

"I think we should move it to the outside before it blows up." He's great.

[@serschmuck3470]

What's in the booooox? What's in the frickin' BAHX?!

[@beirirangu]

for a moment there, I thought this video would've been about chemistry's "view" (for lack of better word) on the schrödinger equation and/or the uncertainty principle

[@BattleBunny1979]

love this stuff. and I am glad you guys are producing video's at a decent rate these days!

[@Gytax0]

I am 100% sure I have subscribed to this channel a few years ago. Now I found out the subscribe button is red. What the hell?

[@ASilentS]

Solution: Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors

[@AaronCZim]

2:27 The Prof. Poliakoff model on the right is brilliant.

[@199NickYT]

haha at the end when he saw that it wasn't radioactive, he said "It's OK" in the saddest way possible! awww lol...

[@Hamstray]

it is radioactive, but the C14 content is probably low enough.

[@dangerouslytalented]

a cat is both inside and not inside the box.

[@JinGwee]

Such innocent passion! "You can see my reactor's already collapsed" LoL

[@enzyme20056]

Wow, it that the first celebrity inanimate carbon rod.

[@TigirlakaLaserwolf6]

Is that a PlayMobil Poliakoff? Or just a scientist that happens to look like him?

[@jimboba7434]

I love his passion.

[@Aanthanur]

mmmhh i expected a dead cat in the box :D

[@trespire]

Poor cat!

[@danhillis8439]

I'd love it if you guys covered Thorium again. Especially: is the LFTR really the panacea I'm led to believe?

[@RFC3514]

1:46 - There's a mistake in the title: "because because". It's missing at least another "because", and the part about "the wonderful Wizard of Oz".

[@metrologic5000]

Another wonderful video. Your passion for learning and teaching and science in general my sir is refreshing. Please continue these videos so future generations can catch your infectious curiosity.

[@bensons999]

Let him keep it!!!

[@n3r0z3r0]

Could you please tell us something about LFTR (Liquid-fluoride thorium reactor) ?

[@parttroll1]

Typical trust a politician get the interesting gift rather than the Professor of Chemistry!

[@theKashConnoisseur]

As far as I know, we call it Perspex here in America too. That is, when we don't simply refer to it as Acrylic Glass.

[@FLPhotoCatcher]

It's usually called Plexiglas here in the US.

[@Loongear]

5:10 this part alone made it the best video on youtube today.

[@MegaCraigh]

That is pretty cool though. A piece of the first nuclear reactor (kind of). I really hope the Minister gives it to The Prof.

[@ElectronicTonic156]

Is that a Lego Professor Poliakoff? Awesome!

[@RFC3514]

If you mean this one, it's not Lego: www.google.com/search?q=playmobil+mad+scientist&tbm=isch There's also a Lego one, but it looks less like him: www.google.com/search?q=lego+crazy+scientist&tbm=isch

[@BornAgainCynic0086]

You goose, you should have sid it was hot, and you would keep it safe for him.

[@theflinx]

I was thinking, it could have been a comb.

[@ariedobront264]

That piece of graphite have an intresting story! That's very cool!

[@RAS19551]

It is very nice to see you again Professor. That is wonderful object. Thanks Brady. Are there many of these samples left?

[@GateCrasherVI]

Like having a bit of coal from the first man-made fire. =) Great video gents!

[@beastman12ful]

These vids are the coolest stuff ever. I watch you guys all the time

[@StevenAlpert]

To think, one of my favorite scientists was within driving distance of me... Wow!

[@ellock1998]

I thought this video was great, but I think it is funny that most people are like "I GOT AN AMAZING GIFT... A CAR!!!!" Or something like that and scientists are like "I GOT AN AMAZING GIFT!!!!! A PIECE OF CARBON FROM A NUCLEAR REACTOR!!!!" I just think that is great.

[@L00NGB00W]

Unobtainium?

[@MegaCraigh]

Ununobtainium I think you mean. Element one one non existence. It works great in nuclear reactors. The reactors are so controlled its like nothing is reacting. Only problem in its pretty rare. Rarer that naturally occurring 118.

[@L00NGB00W]

Samwise Gamgee I heard it can also be used in nuclear non-reactors with almost the same efficiency.

[@vulp3s837]

I think it is name after un-obtain-nium

[@L00NGB00W]

V- victini The unobtainable element. =D

[@sean3533]

Lol I was expecting something Schroedinger

[@qwaqwa1960]

Come to Toronto if you want to see all the other Henry Moores!

[@Deadmeet100]

The minister should give it to the professor.

[@GlItCh017]

5:07 this is pure GOLD!

[@Kilroy.6644]

You should see if you can come here to Hanford WA to see the B-Reactor and the lab where the are developing the techniques they are going to use at the Vitrification plant.

[@aries_9130]

Very interesting video. The image of the atomic bomb exploding still gives me chills, though..

[@raymondcapel5053]

Love your channel. Shared videos with my students. Thanks.

[@Humveeburnout]

Gwyneth Paltrows head?

[@thebestofall007]

Even something humdrum like a box of rocks coming from this channel and professor Poliakoff is interesting.

[@TKRmagician97]

Great video as always :) I would just like to know what camera you film with? I just realized that the quality is very high even in 480p.

[@tomyo669]

Wait what exactly was the point of the graphite? Why was it used in the reactor?

[@Smapdi_Flaffermann]

Coincidence!! I'm currently reading The Making of the Atomic Bomb (Richard Rhodes). It's a great book, and as soon as you said graphite, I thought I might know what it was. Made my day :)

[@Iconat20]

You said the graphite was a structural material because it was neutron transparent, but in actuality it was a moderator, a very important piece of the reactor.

[@DayaCIDfan]

Awesome.. Prof always manages to cheer up we enthusiasts..

[@Omar_Tsai]

I expected something related to shrodinger's cat

[@lucawits]

The professor never gets any cool things, he deserves then though !

[@Ehlihr]

This would be such a badass show and tell object.

[@BenWeinel]

this man looks like science

[@nielskorpel8860]

make a vidio about thorium reactors

[@JollyTurbo1]

I thought there would be an embarrassing picture of spongebob at the Christmas party in the box

[@chrisbernardes5066]

What do you think about LFTR style reactors?

[@xxxxxrandom]

Some videos about thorium salt reactor developments please?

[@NeogenicOrg]

I have read about the LFTR reactor design and that it could be used to burn spent nuclear fuel from the common high pressure reactors deployed worldwide. Also that the "spent fuel" has really only had like 2% of the energy potential used up in these high pressure versions and that the so called waste could be used in the LFTR using much more of the energy potential if not all. Can you confirm this please also are radio isotopes that rapidly decay more dangerous then ones that have slow decay rates ie: millions of years vs. a few hours?

[@cloptonhouse]

did the minister relent?

[@christopherward-nq5cv]

Thank you for helping me in my chemistry class

[@Savethirdrock]

Helium?

[@ryPish]

3:23 Top right corner

[@JustinHallPlus]

Is it a comb? j/k, love the hair.

[@fr89k]

"things you don't need, but want to have" :D I myself bought two little piece of glass and sand mixture which were formed during the first nuclear bomb test in 1945 (trinity test)... I don't know what to do with it, but it's something that I definitely needed when I saw that I can buy it.. :D Unfortunately I don't have access (and probably insufficient knowhow) to prove its authenticity since I'm "just" a (computer) engineer and not a real scientist like chemists or physicists (that word always kills me in English :D)..

[@PSIXOtheX]

I read about this many times and was always amazed how negligently they acted. It reminded me of that experiment when they detonated nuclear weapons high in the atmosphere to see will it catch fire (ok they were testing something else but they considered this as a possibility and still did it). So I always wondered did they not know about the dangers of having unshielded reactor in a densely populated area or they just didn't care because of the pressure to beat the German scientists to discovery. PS.Please don't consider this question as anti nuclear rant I am actually quite pro nuclear but just don't get why they executed such a dangerous experiment without precautions

[@unmeaninglessly143]

half-hearted about giving it back

[@LaMaisondeCasaHouse]

For anyone interested in the history, I found this book highly informative: "The making of the atomic bomb" by Richard Rhodes...

[@PopeLando]

Maybe Professor Poliakoff can give us his assessement as to whether David Willetts's political nickname of "Two Brains" is well earned or not.

[@nimmen]

Coincidentally, I just received a box that looked exactly the same as that box. It was also a box containing something that I never thought I would ever see. Yes, today the replacement screen arrived for the phone I smashed :/

[@iammaxhailme]

I don't think we call it Lucite anymore, but cool anyway!

[@TLOU15]

It is often called plexiglass in canada

[@tracyrreed]

TLOU15 Same in the US.

[@ericjane747]

What part of a future fusion reactor could be placed in Lucite as a momento

[@BYMYSYD]

A strange coincidence, that I took a trip down to U of C just last weekend to see the site of Pile 1.

[@sarowie]

That such an artefact can not be given to Martyn is clear. But why not giving it to the University of Nottingham? It would remain public property, but Martyn can visit it any times he wants, show it to his students or even anyone that would like to see it. It would be exaclty what Martyn would do anyway, except that the minister could donate it formally to the university for preservation. Formal and on paper, anything would be fine and on top of that, it would be in the right hands for preserving.

[@slpk]

I thought it was a Raspberry Pi

[@AaronCZim]

Getting a lump of coal is like Christmas for Prof. Poliakoff.

[@x9x9x9x9x9]

If I some how get one of these I will send it to you. I don't know how I will get one but I shall find a way.

[@MrGreycoat]

Keep it!

[@PrograError]

Simmons?

[@patriciahansenwithan]

i got several big lumps of glass that was melted by the bomb tests in the desert, from an abandoned trailer once owned by a rock collector in Tecopa, California. they had sat outside in the open probably since the 50's. i have them in my garden. Should i be worried?

[@albripi]

Yes. Send some to me so I can dispose them safely :P

[@mundospunky]

I like his tie!

[@JonathanSchattke]

here at MST we have a full block of that.

[@qwertykins76]

Replacement for the Elements of Harmony.

[@alexyanci7974]

Hey Minister! Let the Doc have it!

[@spikeguy33]

Love his tie.

[@kaznW]

Enrico fermi wrote one of my favourite books on Thermodynamics :3 I never knew he was involved in building nuclear reactors.

[@Kalevala87]

He was part of the Manhattan Project.

[@PhlegmaticInsanity]

WHAT'S IN THE BOX? WHAT'S IN THE BOX?! WHAT'S IN THE FUCKING BOX?!

[@LFTRnow]

Professor, what a real treasure you have there - a beautiful piece of history. If only nuclear power would gain favor once again we could get ourselves out of the (warming) mess we have made for ourselves.

[@Sannoon93]

aww i feel bad for the professor, i wish i could give him one.

[@readshrill1917]

Brady, have you asked the professors what they think of the designs for the Liquid Fluoride Molten Salt (LFTR) reactor, which burns Thorium? From what I understand, these reactors are not only inherently much safer than today's high-pressure reactors, but could actually be used to burn up most of the nuclear waste currently sitting in nuclear power plants all over the world, and produce massive amounts of energy in the process. An experimental reactor was built and run for years back in the 1960s at Oak Ridge labs, but was not adopted because at the time, we needed plutonium for bombs. And these reactors do not make Pu. In any case, I would love it if you would ask the professors to investigate, and - if they find the concept has merit - talk about it in one of your videos. Developing a nuclear reactor takes not only hundreds of millions of dollars but (unfortunately) political pressure as well, since the nuclear industry is so heavily regulated.

[@ElveeKaye]

Who made the Prof. Poliakoff figure? I want one, too!

[@nc51509]

I was definitely expecting this to be schrodinger's cat.

[@TheTrueOSSS]

shouldn't traveling wave reactors be an elegant solution for the byproducts of nuclear fission reactors?

[@StevenAlpert]

OH MY GOSH... AND PLAYMOBIL! This video has made me happy!

[@abdufiadbfajdfb]

Gwyneth Paltron's head?

[@OhMyGodAWhale]

I wonder how many of the engineers/scientists got ill from the radiation from the lack of safety around the reactor?