Evidence stacks up for poisonous books containing toxic dyes

Re:Evidence stacks up for poisonous books containing toxic dyes by retrac on Friday August 23, 2024 @09:26AM (#41328824)

Death, magic, alchemy, transmutation, poison (and so perhaps by extension, radiation) are all associated with fluorescent green to some degree. (Do a Google image search for "necromancy" or "poisonous dragon" and the majority colour is fluorescent green.) This might be partly influenced by the arsenic greens of the Victorian era.

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Re:Evidence stacks up for poisonous books containing toxic dyes by _ntka on Friday August 23, 2024 @09:34AM (#41328878)

Radiation would perhaps be better pictured with a light blue glow (Cherenkov radiation).

The green glow used in pop culture has its origin in the widespread use of radium paint to achieve a glow-in-the-dark effect (e.g. on watch faces) in the early 20th century. I still own a radium watch. The paint was always fluorescent green. And it did glow.

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Re:Evidence stacks up for poisonous books containing toxic dyes by BoxOfRain on Friday August 23, 2024 @10:19AM (#41329250)

Isn’t it usually the phosphor that wears out rather than the radium decaying that stops them glowing? Would it be possible for someone with the correct safety equipment to apply a new layer of fluorescent paint?

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Re:Evidence stacks up for poisonous books containing toxic dyes by cyberax on Friday August 23, 2024 @11:35AM (#41329867)

It's possible, but it's a bad idea, unless you just want it for display in a sealed case.

If you want a sane version, get modern tritium-based glowing capsules.

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