Bruh, this is literally like scientists scavenging metal from shipwrecks that predate the era of nuclear bomb testing, cause they need steel that isn’t contaminated by nuclear fallout for certain measuring equipment 😵💫😵💫
Great analogy for the shit we’re currently saturating our digital world with
Bruh, this is literally like scientists scavenging metal from shipwrecks that predate the era of nuclear bomb testing, cause they need steel that isn’t contaminated by nuclear fallout for certain measuring equipment
Except in this case, these scientists are working at a nuclear weapons lab. They need metal that hasn’t been contaminated by nuclear bombs so that they can invent better nuclear bombs.
A guy I used to know who would go to estate sales looking for blacksmithing equipment once told me the market for old metalworking stuff is disappearing because too much stuff is being bought by companies én masse for this reason.
I don’t know if I believe that companies are buying small lot auctions and estate sales for old anvils, but he was sure convinced.
I like to joke I’m sitting on a pile of cash because my anvil isn’t radioactive. (it’s not a very good joke, but it carries some weight!)
If a big company needed a lot of something specific, they’d probably pay a pretty penny and let people going to small lot auctions accumulate a sizeable amount and then buy it from them.
It’s not impossible to buy stuff from small lots at scale, as long as you’re willing to pay a premium
My brother in law actually tried to hook me up at the car place he worked at, and my job would have been to go to auctions and estate sales looking for nice cars for the dealership to buy. It would essentially have been a couple things they want me to go to per week, but then I’d have to be looking myself for things like Craigslist, marketplace, and paper listings.
Didn’t end up going for the job, due to the owners being shit head MAGAts, but it would have been interesting for a few months.
That’s what I imagine any place that NEEDS pre-40s metal would do. Have a person who just goes to places that have blacksmithing tools advertised and buy them. Probably big auctions though, I imagine smallest ate sales wouldn’t get much attention.
According to Wikipedia, while a market for old, low-background steel was real phenomenon for a few decades, that’s pretty much over.
World anthropogenic background radiation … began to fall in 1963 … and by 2008 it had decreased to only 0.005 mSv/yr above natural levels.[9] This has made special low-background steel no longer necessary for most radiation-sensitive uses, as new steel now has a low enough radioactive signature.
So you may consider your friend’s estate-sale theory in light of that time-line.
Bruh, this is literally like scientists scavenging metal from shipwrecks that predate the era of nuclear bomb testing, cause they need steel that isn’t contaminated by nuclear fallout for certain measuring equipment 😵💫😵💫
Great analogy for the shit we’re currently saturating our digital world with
Except in this case, these scientists are working at a nuclear weapons lab. They need metal that hasn’t been contaminated by nuclear bombs so that they can invent better nuclear bombs.
Low background bullshit training data.
A guy I used to know who would go to estate sales looking for blacksmithing equipment once told me the market for old metalworking stuff is disappearing because too much stuff is being bought by companies én masse for this reason.
I don’t know if I believe that companies are buying small lot auctions and estate sales for old anvils, but he was sure convinced.
I like to joke I’m sitting on a pile of cash because my anvil isn’t radioactive. (it’s not a very good joke, but it carries some weight!)
If a big company needed a lot of something specific, they’d probably pay a pretty penny and let people going to small lot auctions accumulate a sizeable amount and then buy it from them.
It’s not impossible to buy stuff from small lots at scale, as long as you’re willing to pay a premium
My brother in law actually tried to hook me up at the car place he worked at, and my job would have been to go to auctions and estate sales looking for nice cars for the dealership to buy. It would essentially have been a couple things they want me to go to per week, but then I’d have to be looking myself for things like Craigslist, marketplace, and paper listings.
Didn’t end up going for the job, due to the owners being shit head MAGAts, but it would have been interesting for a few months.
That’s what I imagine any place that NEEDS pre-40s metal would do. Have a person who just goes to places that have blacksmithing tools advertised and buy them. Probably big auctions though, I imagine smallest ate sales wouldn’t get much attention.
According to Wikipedia, while a market for old, low-background steel was real phenomenon for a few decades, that’s pretty much over.
So you may consider your friend’s estate-sale theory in light of that time-line.
Did you know about !dadjokes@lemmy.world?
It sounds plausible enough, considering we apparently have physicists out there using lead from roman archeological artifacts in their contraptions 😅 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ancient-roman-lead-physics-archaeology-controversy/
Fking nailed it.