Comments on: Fringe – Episode 6: “The Cure”

By: DJB

DJB — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:01:17 +0000

Re medical examiners or coroners…I suspect they take such precautions whenever it might be necesarry –at least if they’re not jaded or unimaginative or too complacent. When it might be be necesarry would be, besides a death obviously due to or in some way involving dangerous conditions so recorded in paperwork, any situation such as this crime scene in which a wierd death ocurred without explanation. The rule of thumb at such a time would be expect it to be lethal, so if it is, you’ve taken precautions and are (probably) safe. (Just as an FYI, I am not an ME. My degrees are in veterinary medicine and animal/human public health, with military and civilian experience.)

By: Aaron

Aaron — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 12:35:17 +0000

When I was in high school I got a boot called “How to be a Super-hero” it contained handy advice on things like powers, costumes, and names including “Don’t give away your vulnerabilities in your name eg. Captain Vulnerable to Strontium-90.” I can’t help but think of that any time I read about Strontium.

By: Fabby

Fabby — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 10:11:12 +0000

The bit I found the silliest was when the girl was sticking herself in the neck with the antidote. Somehow, I doubt that you can just jam that thing ANYWHERE.

By: Scott J

Scott J — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 23:08:19 +0000

A radioisotope like Sr90 would not produce any sort of microwave frequencies. Isotopes with highly energetic decay can cause a secondary phenomenon, Cherenkov radiation, which produces principally UV and visible light. Sr90 would cause this effect, but only in water or similar media. But I have never heard of microwaves being generated in such a manner. Microwaves are many orders of magnitude lower in energy than most nuclear interactions.

A strong microwave burst could not leave any sort of residual radiation, for the same reason.

Human exposure to high intensity microwaves would cause the boiling of water in the outermost tissues first. Water is good shielding against microwaves, and would protect inner tissues until the outer layers were completely dehydrated. This however ignores the metal objects in the room, which would tend to act as antennas focusing the microwaves into points or corners of the objects, potentially offering some protection (depending upon the exact wavelength of the microwaves).

By: Keith

Keith — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:03:44 +0000

I think a guest appearance by ‘The Todd’ is the only thing that can save this show.

“Miracle Five!!!”

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:47:39 +0000

I will start watching this show (this includes buying a t.v.) if they slowly segues into old-school fantasy.
I just want to see a dramatic scene in which a surgical team clap their hands to revive the hero.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:05:21 +0000

I was thinking they were suggesting that Nina may be Peter's real mother. Now if you combine our two ideas, that would be some real fringe science.

By: Slarti

Slarti — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:24:46 +0000

Aw. I expected something about how likely it was that Claire's flailing super-jab with the syringe would've actually successfully targeted the jugular and injected the antidote into it, rather than either missing or hitting but then punching all the way through the jugular and out the other side. Anyway, I figured that the actual reason they were emitting microwaves and exploding and stuff was because they got injected with the stuff from both the Red Pill and the Blue Pill at the same time. :-) Also, I am disturbed by Nina's implications of having once been Close[tm] with Walter, Back In The Day, because it either suggests that they once had an affair, or adds fuel to my personal Epileptic Tree that Nina is actually William Bell after some Weird Science Experiment Gone Horribly Wrong. Neither is really a good mental image.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:12:13 +0000

Isabel:
Good question. No idea.

alice:
The window should be sufficient protection for the team. Strontium-90 emits beta-particles (essentially electrons and positrons), which has a range of a few meters and is stopped by thin layers of glass, metal, or plastic. An outdoor window should be plenty thick to stop the particles.

(Along that line, the cook in the kitchen should have been protected by the walls from any beta-particle radiation or microwaves).

That brings up another point that occurred to me as I was working out this morning. Why were the victims in the diner (other than Emily) radioactive? Emily was the one with the radioactive element in her blood; the others had no radioactive elements. They were exposed to beta-particles and/or microwaves, nothing that would make them radioactive.

By: alice

alice — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:47:45 +0000

Also Walter got the antidote, Olivia went to NY and back and saved the girl all in one day (her birthday!).

And, is radiation contained by mere glass ? Because at the beginning men in heavy protective suits were inside the dinner, but all our protagonists were out of the dinner, just separated by the window. I found that odd.