Polite Dissent

11 Responses to “ Picture Quiz: Black Terror #11 ”

1. Jered
   August 22nd, 2008 at 12:05 am
   

   Easy… it’s that head mirror again! In the wrong spot… and on the wrong kind of Doctor! I’m supposing this guy is a PhD, not an MD.

2. Dean
   August 22nd, 2008 at 12:48 am
   

   Head mirrors are for doctors, not pharmacists. Also, what does he need a head mirror for? He’s looking through a microscope, which would presumably have a built-in light. In addition, I don’t think you’d usually use a microscope to test a mineral sample. I think that the head mirror, the microscope and the rack of test tubes are just being used as a shorthand for “SCIENCE!” All he needs is a hunchbacked assistant…

3. Robb
   August 22nd, 2008 at 2:18 am
   

   Why would the presence of platinum indicate the presence of radium, an entirely different element?

4. Dan Grendell
   August 22nd, 2008 at 3:11 am
   

   I’m guessing that they are saying that the pitchblende indicates the presence of radium, not the platinum, since radium is found in tiny quantities in pitchblende.

5. Axolotl
   August 22nd, 2008 at 3:48 am
   

   How would looking through a microscope enable him to identify what types of metal were present?

6. Eric Henry
   August 22nd, 2008 at 5:40 am
   

   I think they meant pitchblende indicates the presence of radium, which it does. (Either that or uranium.)

   The head mirror in in the middle of headband, which is wrong as it should be above or below the headband, and is being worn in the middle of the forehead, which is wrong as it sould be above one eye.

7. Olivier
   August 22nd, 2008 at 7:10 am
   

   Plus there’s the way he’s using the microscope.

8. mike.
   August 22nd, 2008 at 11:47 am
   

   No pocket protector! :p

9. rabrab
   August 22nd, 2008 at 12:10 pm
   

   Unless I’ve completely forgotten my geology, those three minerals are unlikely to all be present in economically-viable concentrations in the same area. Unless Baldpate Island is somewhere in the Rocky Mountains.

10. Matt
    August 23rd, 2008 at 7:58 am
    

    Also if they’re present in economically-viable amounts, the doctor and his young friend are probably getting a healthy dose of radiation right now.

11. Chris Stuurman
    August 23rd, 2008 at 10:45 am
    

    Why the hell is he wearing a head mirror for his microscope work? Unless said microscope doesn’t have a light, and he’s using some trick shooting to reflect light off his mirror, into something else, and then up into the microscope. Which would admittedly be pretty awesome.

    I don’t think you can analyze metals through an ordinary microscope.

    I’m not geologist, but it seems unlikely to have gold, platinum, and radium in the same one rock.

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