Californium - Periodic Table of Videos 

That lady from the californium factory was very good at explaining their process! She seems to love her job.

This channel has never succumbed to any RU-vid bs that changed its style. It's pure content getting to the point immediately. Actually rigorous documentary work and investigation. Brady continues to ask exactly the right questions of experts for the viewer at exactly the right time. Zero decline. If anything it's only gotten better since 2008.

How she casually describes the element as "pretty dosey" to say that it will probably kill you if you hold it for too long. Nuclear chemists are badass!

It's by no means as expensive as californium, but one of the byproducts of that process, iodine-131, is used to treat thyroid cancer and hyperthyroidism. It's even used in veterinary patients!

Julie is great at explaining the whole process, not dumbing it down too much but not getting very techincal either. I loved this whole video!

Julie explained the chemical processes so well. This is an interesting video for sure!

When I clicked on this video I had no interest in Californium or how it was produced and used. Now I have! Carry on the good work!

Hello professor and Brady. For the past five years I have gone through and watch each of your videos at least five times. I have become disabled and your explanation of chemistry has just absolute piqued my attention. And I so look forward to everyone of your new videos. They are exciting and for the few minutes that your videos Last, I am out of pain. Professor I know that you're not able to do what you used to do. I am in the same boat I can't walk anymore. My hands my feet are in searing pain. But as I just said, watching your videos takes me out of that pain for just a few minutes and you have my brain totally engulfed in what you're teaching. Please never stop. I don't know how much longer I have to live but I do live for not only my Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. But, I live to hear what you and Brady and your staff, all of the students that you're teaching all of the new physicists chemists your entire team that you work with is just absolutely exciting. I pray for you professor and your team. And please stop making Messes in the lab.🙃 God bless you and keep up the wonderful wonderful videos they're exciting to me. God bless you Professor God bless you Brady and God bless you Neil and all of the rest of your staff...!!!🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

I love watching the computers on the desk behind you upgrade over the years.

22 minutes about californium, I could cry, I love so much when you update old videos, plus there's very clever science behind this one

Love the professor. Truly an inspiring human being. So much thanks to him and Brady for all the videos they've made over the years.

The radioactive elements are cool, but the engineering that went into this facility at ORNL (and other national labs, I'm sure!) is just incredible.

What an amazing and complicated process, I can't even fathom how many great minds had to work together to make it happen.

Interesting timing on this video. I’ve literally been working for over a year on a project at work to replace our 10 year old Cf-252 neutron source that we use to calibrate neutron dosimeters. Cf-252 is now insanely expensive. 1500 microgram source is a cool $1.3 million

I work as a Carpenter in a lot of Cement plants. They have these restricted areas where the machine is housed so no one gets near it. So cool to understand how the analysis happens during the separation process.

So many fascinating aspects. I had no idea what went into making Californium.

I have a Master’s degree in Chemistry, and find all your videos to be tremendously pertinent and entertaining. I regularly learn new things from them. I can’t emphasize enough how positive this is for science and for the human race in general to have the means (internet and YT) to reach everyone with this kind of information. Thank you.

This transmutation is absolutely mind blowing.

I awoke to a 22 minute video from my favorite professor! What a great day to be here.

I love the longer videos like this! Hope you enjoyed visiting Tennessee.

Man, i want to do plumbing there. I understand this may come off as an odd statement. I find these topics, equipment, and process fascinating.

This is the best video I have ever seen and I am watching you from 2008.Cheers

Man I love this. My grandfather worked at that laboratory. Amazing.

I've watched this like 20 times in the past 2 years. I love how fluent the knowledge is, and the further I go in science, the more I understand and see without thinking. This is amazing. And to be fair, the first year I was in lots of biology with some chemistry. Wasn't sure what i'd want to get into.

“Dosey” is a wonderful adjective.

Always love hearing about ORNL, it’s about 30 or 40 minutes from my neighborhood

New Periodic Video makes me happy like child seeing candies.

Love seeing the professor still kicking it! Thanks for creating such an awesome and lasting learning resource. Y’all are awesome

completely, completely fascinating. well done, folks 👏

Im a grad student who currently works with Cf-249 among other rare isotopes like this. Very excited to see this video! If anyone has questions feel free to ask!

These videos remind me how lucky I was to get the chance to do research at Lawrence Berkeley Labs as an undergrad; just the level of science and history oozing from the walls is crazy. No jokes, Fermi's old cyclotron is just laying outside in the center of a round about, and there are reserved parking spots for Nobel laureates in front of every other building. Hope I can visit Oak Ridge one day (and Nottingham too!!).

14 years damn, this is almost a super og channel, so great to see this channels still going strong!!

This was potentially the best video that Periodic Table has ever shown 😃 The value of this educational resource shall inspire the next generation of students 👍👌

The sheer scale of accumulated knowledge to get to this point is staggering to me.

Causally having a sign on the window, 11:49, "Oh that bucket 0542 contains Plutonium, please don't tip it over!" :D

Incredible peek behind the curtain (or leaded glass, as it were) at Oak Ridge - great stuff!

The Prof is Alive and kickin'!

It's always a treat to see a new video from this channel, and as an undergrad recently studying actinide complex chemistry the information on a californium metallocene was fascinating!

I wonder how much Californium actually exists around the world at the moment... And also at the mention of Fermium a few times in the video, I hope at some point a visible amount of it can be created enough to be photographed before it decays.

Great video! I use Californium-252 on a near daily basis for my work doing calibration and R&D on Gamma and Neutron detectors.

Martyn, what do you think about Julie's scarf?

Always good to see the Prof. Cheers to Brady and Prof. P and everyone at Nottingham

Prof I just want to say you are the best!

It would be interesting to get a color correction card into one of those shielded workrooms, then use software to color adjust for that greenish glass so you could see what it looks like if you were in there.

Always on the mark and very informative. I love these videos, been watching them for some time now. In a perfect world, this kind of content is what RU-vid would really have been created for, not all of that other mindless rubbish that you typically find.

Really great video. Production of these actinides is a fascinating process.

Fantastic video, really interesting. I love the explination of the purification process. Excellent job!

I'm so glad on this subject matter. Thanks on your update.

i love videos like this. Thank you so much.

How do they change the lightbulbs in the cubicles? What sort of hazmat gear is required to do that? Is it the janitor’s job or does it require a PhD? Fascinating lab and chemistry, brilliant staff, amazing content as usual. Thanks for the insight into a local facility!

I had no idea they could produce this in sufficient quantities to be useful for industrial applications

Brady! you should start another channel named "Sixty Cymbals" where you talk about musical instruments lol

Californium is pretty much a magical element.

As a biochemist, I have deep respect for that chromatography. It is next level. I thought separating materials differing by less than 1 kDa to be high resolution. This atomic weight separation puts that to shame! Not to mention the ion exchange chemistry involved.

I can’t believe I’ve been watching these videos for over ten years

Los Alamos National Laboratory is located in my birthplace/hometown. I was never sure what was going on at the sister lab in Oak Ridge. This video helped fill in the gaps.

You Mister are the best chemistry teacher in the world!

Amazing. The visit at ORNL was super interesting!!!!

Awesome. Really like these videos about the elements

Appreciate the fascinating tour and information.

The way the ORNL scientist is describing the process sounds simple, but I can't even begin to fathom how it was developed. All I know is that lanthanides and actinides are something that none of the students in the chemistry fraternity I was a part of really ever discussed, it was predominantly organic chemistry because that was huge at the time. These heavy elements were like "yeah they're there, they play by different rules", and that was it.

I just subbed, this is a really impressive channel, i gotta admit that.

Great level of video as usual.

This is the best channel on RU-vid

An excellent and informative video. Thank you.

I’ve been a geophysicist for over 4 decades and relish these presentations. I feel like a sponge trying o to absorb all that I can…as I once did as a starry eyed 12 year old. The host captures the enthusiasm for science that is the fuel that powers curiosity.

This was yet another awesome video. Thx!

The Oak Ridge visit was one of my favourite videos, I really loved how detailed the description of the reactor was, and ofcurse seeing the huge blue cherenkov radiation was the best

Happy to see you healthy and sound dear prof.

I’m hoping and pleased that you are still working after the past 2 years.. cheers!

I love the Professor's White hair and I love his knowledge when it comes to the Elements , Gases and Metals including Arsenic , Copper , Antimony , Californiaum, Uranium ect... I love the Periodic Table of the Elements and learning about the Periodic Table

Excellent. Keep em coming professor!

Fantastic episode. Thanks!!

Fav video ever from you sir.

Maintenance must be an absolute nightmare. It's right up my alley. :)

Such an extraordinary element!

Glad to see a new video 😄

Brilliant video sir.

Thank you for creating this content, outstanding

Fascinating. Thank you. so much knowledge

Thanks for your video sir.

When the professor said 14 years ago I died a little on the inside 😢😭

I didn't see the upload, but a minute ago I just felt that there has to be a new periodic video and there it is...

Please make a video about islands of stability and what the electron orbitals look like above f shells

Amazing video.

I hope they didn’t disturb Bucket 0542. It contains Pu material from Lab 209.

That was really great, I learned a lot. Thanks.

Very good video! Love it!

I love these videos! Will you ever make a start on molecules?

I believe that tiny amounts of californium is used in certain designs of home fire alarms. I'm not sure exactly how it functions but I believe it is to do with how it detects the smoke.

Radiochemistry is a very interesting field of investigation.Also nuclear chemistry and nuclear technology

I think that Californium is the highest atomic number element with practical uses outside the labratory.

What a great video. Really love the science stuff

Amazing video!

Very interesting. Thank You.

Thanks Again Professor.

Love all of your content but especially when it involves radioactive isotopes!

Hello, you do not know me but I believe you taught a certain CHAP and now he is my chemistry teacher. He often uses your videos in our class and I hope to see more videos soon :)

I am a bit sad that the professor doesn't get to visit some of these places, I think he deserves to go, especially because he wants to share it all with us,

Carrying on the work of the late Glenn T. Seaborg et al . . . I remember, as a schoolboy, reading a newspaper article about einsteinium (₉₉Es) and fermium (₁₀₀Fm) being newly discovered in the blast products of a nuclear weapons test. Just tiny traces of them. Here they are now, making very substantial quantities of these elements, albeit still microscopic, but many orders of magnitude more than that initial discovery. And on the way to making even higher-numbered elements. Wow! Side note & question. Having worked for a time with radionuclides, from the mid-70's to the mid-80's, I'm puzzled by the notation used here, e.g., at around 5 min; specifically the placement of A (atomic mass number) and Z (atomic number), on the chemical symbol of a nuclide. I thought A was supposed to go to the upper-left, and Z to the lower-left, of the chemical symbol (²⁴⁹₉₈Cf) - not to the upper and lower right (Cf²⁴⁹₉₈), as they are placed here. And that upper right was supposed to be for the ionization state, and lower right for atom count in a molecule. Am I mistaken, or did someone goof here? .Fred