Reborn Bao Guowei, I really didn’t want to be a great writer!

Chapter 426 Marie Curie! The hazards of radioactive elements?

Paris France.

The "Wine Quai" on the banks of the Seine.

This is the Jussieu campus of the University of Paris.

The reason for coming to this campus is not because of the scenery along the Seine during this period, but because of its long history.

In fact, this area has another name in later generations, which is the Sorbonne University Association composed of schools such as Sorbonne University and Pierre and Marie Curie University.

The former was founded in the 13th century and originated from theology. The Italian poet Dante once studied here.

But now, before the restructuring, this place still belonged to the University of Paris.

Compared with the scenery and luxury, Bao Guowei now pays more attention to the cultural heritage of the lecture venue and whether he can meet some historical celebrities.

The Jussieu campus could be said to be the most culturally distinctive and academically rich place in Paris at that time.

It can be said to be one of the important academic centers in France and even Europe at that time.

Especially in the humanities and cutting-edge physics, it has a world-leading academic position.

The former reflects the prevalence of the Historical Annales School within the school.

The latter is because this campus is home to Marie Curie, a legendary woman who won the Nobel Prize twice.

It is obvious that the reason Bao Guowei came here was to visit this scientist.

Of course, he did not forget the idea that Zhang Nianyue had mentioned to him about wanting to become Marie Curie's student.

However, considering Zhang Nianyue's current level of science, it is still a fantasy for her to become Marie Curie's student.

Moreover, the side effects of studying radioactive substances made it impossible for Bao Guowei to allow his fiancée to conduct research.

Therefore, this visit to the Jussieu campus was just to visit Madame Curie and give a lecture to the students of the University of Paris.

After passing through the densely populated campus, Bao Guowei and his companions finally found the Radium Institute of the University of Paris, far away from the crowd.

Today, Marie Curie has inherited her late husband's teaching position and has become the director of the institute.

Because they had made an appointment in advance, Bao Guowei and others easily found Madame Curie in her office.

But when she arrived, several people had been waiting in the office for nearly an hour.

The door was slowly pushed open, and an old lady with sunken eye sockets and unsteady steps walked in. Her clothes were spotted with chemical stains, and it was obvious that she had been wearing them for many years. Even her hair was a little frizzy.

When he saw this old woman, Bao Guowei concluded that she was Marie Curie.

He quickly stood up, walked forward to greet him, shook his hand and said.

"Is that Marie Curie? I am Bao Guowei, and this is my fiancée Zhang Nianyue."

The two of them stepped forward together, and without waiting for Madame Curie to speak, Bao Guowei first introduced Zhang Nianyue's identity.

Zhang Nianyue seemed very reserved and a little nervous, and also wanted to reach out and say hello to the other party.

Unexpectedly, Madame Curie did not shake hands with Bao Guowei or Zhang Nianyue.

This is difficult to understand in French etiquette. Shaking hands is basically a necessary etiquette, and close friends and relatives even need to kiss each other.

Madame Curie smiled and explained: "It is a little dangerous to shake hands with me."

"Danger?"

Zhang Nianyue withdrew her hand angrily, feeling somewhat confused.

“Long-term exposure to radioactive substances can cause some harm to the human body. We have not yet studied the specific aspects and severity of the harm, but many people have become sick due to exposure to radioactive substances.

I think it would be better for you not to shake hands. It has been a long time since I shook hands with my friends during the research period. "

Madame Curie seemed to be worried that the two people had some grudges against each other, so she explained it carefully.

Bao Guowei was a little surprised to hear this. He noticed that there were water stains on the other person's collar.

I'm afraid that during the one hour of waiting, the other party was cleaning himself, fearing that the residual radioactive elements would affect the guests?
This is such a kind lady.

But Bao Guowei couldn't help but think of this tragic period of human history.

After the earliest discovery of radium, Marie Curie found that it could kill cancer cells, treat cancer, and even be widely used in the medical field.

Because of her discovery of radium, Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize in Physics and became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.

But it also brought "radium" into the public eye. For a time, radium was sought after by many people, and many businesses saw business opportunities.

With heavy packaging, radium became a panacea for all diseases and was even added to various daily necessities.

Bao Guowei can even still see some radium-related products in Europe today, such as toothpaste, bread, cigarettes, medicines, etc.

Not to mention the United States, where the commodity economy is more developed.

Many people firmly believe that taking radium can "fight cancer."

At that time, people were not aware of the dangers of radium, and even in cutting-edge research, professional protective measures were not used.

It was not until eight years later that the world truly realized the harm caused by radioactive elements such as "radium", and products containing radium were banned from sale in the United States, Europe and other places.

During this period, countless people died because of "radium".

Female workers in radium enterprises became ill due to exposure to radium, and even the American steel magnate Eben Byers died miserably from long-term consumption of "radium water" containing radium.

What’s funny is that products containing radium were extremely expensive at the time and not affordable for ordinary people.

In a sense, this can be said to be the backlash of capital.

And the person in front of him was one of the greatest scientists of the early 20th century, Ms. Marie Curie.

Historically, he also died of illness four years later due to his research on radioactive substances.

Bao Guowei knew that it was too late to remind Madame Curie now. He could clearly see that there were some bruises on her arms and her skin was a pale and unhealthy color.

This was a manifestation of acute radiation sickness, and because of long-term close contact, it had almost irreversible effects on Madame Curie's body.

You know, even in later generations, radiation sickness is an extremely difficult disease to treat.

But after sitting down at the desk, Bao Guowei couldn't help but speak.

"Ma'am, perhaps you can strengthen the prevention and control of radioactive elements. I mean, strengthening protective measures in research, which may be better." Madame Curie took a sip of coffee, looked at Bao Guowei in surprise, and asked.

"Bao, you also study radioactive elements?"

In fact, Madame Curie was very busy, and the reason why she accepted the visit was largely because of Bao Guowei's continuous demonstration of talent in medicine.

Masks, allicin, details on epidemic prevention and control, iron lung, respiratory intubation, nutrition
If she had not known that the other person was a writer, Madame Curie would have even thought that he was a professional researcher deeply involved in the medical field.

During this period, Madame Curie has been working on research to improve the effectiveness of radioactive elements in cancer treatment and reduce side effects.

She was full of curiosity about this magical oriental boy.

I wonder if I can get some inspiration from the other person.

Before Bao Guowei could answer, Marie Curie explained carefully: "In fact, the academic community has already simply recognized the harm of radium to the human body. For example, it may cause physical fatigue, make people weak and prone to illness, etc.

I heard that some people have died from radioactive elements, but the specific cause has not yet been studied. "

She sighed and said, "The research on radioactive substances has only been going on for more than 30 years. There are still many elements waiting for us to discover. The physics and chemistry communities are still in the exploratory stage, not to mention the medical community."

"But health is the most important thing, right? If you can take care of your health, you can do more research."

Zhang Nianyue suddenly blurted out something, and seemed to find it a bit abrupt, so she shrank her head in embarrassment.

Madame Curie had no intention of blaming her. Instead, she looked at Zhang Nianyue kindly, shook her head, and spoke in a very relieved tone.

"I'm old. Paying attention to these protections will not only affect my research, but also be meaningless." She looked at Bao Guowei and smiled, with thick wrinkles at the corners of her eyes.

"Mr. Bao, the mask you invented is very useful. I have been using it all the time."

The mask was epoch-making at the time. Compared with the original bulky and unscientific mask design, the mask designed by Bao Guowei was obviously more suitable for application in various scenarios.

It has played a great role not only in the prevention and control of medical diseases, but also in the chemical industry and various scientific research fields.

Even now in many European hospitals, doctors who do not wear masks are considered unprofessional.

"It's my honor to help you." Bao Guowei felt that he was also honored, and he also thought of a method that was often used in later generations to prevent and control radiation.

"I wonder if Ms. Mary has studied the role of lead in radiation protection."

In Bao Guowei's impression, most experimenters in later generations used lead suits and lead aprons to resist the invasion of radioactive substances.

This cannot completely prevent the invasion of radioactive materials, but it is better than no protection at all.

"Lead?!" Madame Curie was a little surprised. She didn't expect to hear the word of this element from Bao Guowei.

She originally assumed that Bao Guowei didn't understand physics and chemistry, but she didn't expect that he actually seemed to have some research on them?

Marie Curie thought for a moment, nodded and said, "In previous research, we did find that some substances can block radioactive elements, especially lead, which can effectively absorb and block alpha, beta and gamma rays.

I had not thought of using lead for protection, but you did remind me that if lead plates were stuffed into the clothes, it might be able to protect the safety of the researchers to a great extent."

For a moment, she seemed a little excited and looked at Bao Guowei and said.

"Bao, your discovery is very important. The lives of countless researchers will be protected because of your discovery in the future."

Sometimes scientific research is like this. In fact, people have long discovered that lead can fight radioactivity.

But just like Marie Curie, most people think of it in the manufacture of equipment, but never think of the role of lead in medical protection.

Even if we have this idea, there will be many concerns, such as whether lead will affect the experimental results, whether lead will also have side effects on the human body, and whether this side effect will be greater than radiation?
This seems to be a very simple truth to people in later generations, but it took a long time and twists and turns before it was discovered.

Just like the discovery of penicillin, it was not until decades after its discovery that it was truly taken seriously.

Bao Guowei felt a little embarrassed, and he explained with a smile.

"It's not as exaggerated as you said. I just saw in some papers that lead has a barrier effect on radioactive elements. I think there should be many places that use lead to prevent the effects of radiation."

He spread his hands and continued talking.

"Of course, lead alone is not enough. I think we should set up a special laboratory away from the crowd. You are doing a good job now.

But there is another point. The walls, floors and ceilings of the laboratory must be made of radiation-proof materials, such as concrete, lead plates, etc. ”

When Bao Guowei came, he had already observed that although the current Radium Institute of the University of Paris was built far away from the teaching area, its structure actually used brick and stone structure.

This undoubtedly has no blocking effect on the radiation of radioactive elements.

Bao Guowei spoke more and more, and mentioned many prevention and control methods in later generations that he remembered.

"It is not enough to use rubber protective gloves, wear protective goggles and respiratory protective equipment masks. It is better to have a gas mask. I also have some improved methods for gas masks."

Madame Curie was stunned by the detailed radiation protection measures. She did not expect that the other party seemed to be so concerned about this matter, and she was even moved for a moment.

Zhang Nianyue was watching the conversation between the two people in a daze. To be honest, she didn't understand many things, but she could feel that Madame Curie's attitude, which had changed from being kind and chatty at the beginning, had become more and more serious, even a little surprising, as if she had entered into research mode.

"I think." Madame Curie offered some suggestions.

"Ma'am, I think your work system needs to be improved. Strict entry and exit rules are required."

Bao Guowei did his best to tell the other party all the knowledge he could.

"You said that long-term exposure to radioactive materials is likely to increase the risk of cancer?"

After a deep conversation, Madame Curie took out a worn-out notebook from somewhere and began to record everything with a pen. She looked up at Bao Guowei in disbelief.

The scientific community's conclusion that radioactive substances cause cancer basically had to wait several years, after many people had become ill and died from them, before they could reach an agreement.

Today, the side effects of radioactive elements are still in an unknown state.

Bao Guowei nodded firmly and said.

"I am not making groundless inferences. In fact, I have observed many patients who used radioactive products. They all had the same obvious symptoms. After being exposed to radioactive substances, they gradually experienced organ dysfunction, skin erythema and itching, and were prone to illness and even cancer.
Such research may not be obvious now, but in a few years, the harm will inevitably become apparent.”

In order to make his point more convincing, Bao Guowei forged his research on these patients. Fortunately, he was known as a medical genius, and because of his previous inventions, basically no one would question the authenticity of his research.

He continued to give examples.

“Madam, I support the view of German pathologist Rudolf Virchow on cancer, which is that one of the causes of cancer is the irreversible proliferation and mutation of cells caused by repeated inflammation.

The radiation produced by radioactive elements is something that can constantly harm the human body!"

(End of this chapter)