this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2025
43 points (97.8% liked)

Sydney

1070 readers
10 users here now

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
top 21 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] jonesy@aussie.zone 22 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Thank god appropriate resources are being dedicated to punishing this guy properly. Can you imagine the absolute mayhem he could unleash if eh managed to collect all the elements? /s

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Pretty sure I watched a show as a kid where someone collected all the elements and then used them to take down the evil ruler.

Maybe Emmanuel Lidden is the Avatar?

[–] Gorgritch_umie_killa@aussie.zone 3 points 3 months ago

I think you mean Captain Planet.

[–] Sporkbomber@lemm.ee 4 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I mean this isn't someone trying to import in nickel or any other element. He was shipping highly radioactive and toxic material around. It's typically frowned on to expose people to radiation for the sake of you completing a collection.

[–] Nath@aussie.zone 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Don't we all have a teeny bit of uranium in our homes in smoke detectors? Or was that some urban myth I'm remembering?

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 7 points 3 months ago

Not an urban myth, but a combination of slightly incorrect and very out of date. "Ionisation" smoke alarms typically contain Americium-241, which is radioactive just like uranium is (that's the slightly incorrect).

But ionisation smoke alarms are illegal to install in Queensland (probably other states too, I just didn't check), and haven't been recommended since at least 2006 (that's the very out of date). Instead, these days, smoke alarms are typically photoelectric.

[–] Gibsonhasafluffybutt@aussie.zone 3 points 3 months ago

Blah blah blah

We have bigger problems to deal with than this guy.

[–] eureka@aussie.zone 10 points 3 months ago

What a fool, should have played it smart and bought a nuclear submarine instead!

[–] zero_gravitas@aussie.zone 6 points 3 months ago

Fuck's sake, leave the guy alone!

[–] The_Decryptor@aussie.zone 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

The court heard that Lidden had ordered the items from a US-based science website and they had been delivered to his parents’ home.

Did he try to buy something off United Nuclear maybe?

https://unitednuclear.com/uranium-ore-c-2_4/uranium-ore-fragments-p-782.html

Edit: Read the headline 4 times and somehow missed "plutonium" bah

[–] Gorgritch_umie_killa@aussie.zone 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Reminds me of a story my partner told me about a 'science geek' in her year at school.

He brought loose mercury in with him to science class. As he showed the teacher, the teacher apparently evacuated the classroom. The kid got a good talking to apparently.

Not sure what happened to the mercury.

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 7 points 3 months ago (2 children)

That's wild. In my year 6 class the science teacher poured loose mercury onto a cutting mat, and rolled it around a bit. There's so little danger in mercury if you don't physically touch it. And don't have long term exposure.

[–] Nath@aussie.zone 6 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

In my primary school science class, they poured mercury into our hands and we each had a turn playing with it for a while.

I also just remembered I had this toy maze thing where you had a blob of mercury that you needed to get to the centre like those ball-bearing mazes. Yep, a child left unattended with a blob of mercury and nothing but a layer of simple clear plastic stopping the kid from drinking the stuff.

Obligatory Bandit.

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Holy shit in your hands‽‽

That Bandit clip is so right...

[–] Nath@aussie.zone 2 points 3 months ago

At least I wasn't playing in an asbestos sand pit...


Story is pretty sad

[–] Gorgritch_umie_killa@aussie.zone 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Hahaha, what a legend! Practical teachers were always my favourite.

Yeah, i didn't go into too much detail because i can't really remember the story, so i don't know if there was a legit problem, or the teacher was just reacting to the potential. I have this vague memory about him rolling it around the palm of his hand, but i don't trust my memory on that detail.

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 2 points 3 months ago

Well, Nath also apparently remembers mercury being put into not just the teacher's, but students' hands, so you might be remembering that right.

[–] vane@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

This is scary. He might have become Sauron you know, because he would be able to make one ring to rule them all.

[–] Rosencrantz23@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

Lol of course

[–] Madison420@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago

No they won't, that's super duper legal so long as you declare it otherwise it's just a customs issue that likely falls on the importer.