'The variation in dosimetric parameters such as mass attenuation coefficient, half value layer factor, exposure buildup factor, and the photon mean free path for different oxide glasses for the incident gamma energy range 0.015–15 MeV has been studied-‘
"Excuse me, Dr. VonNuemen?”
The odd, bird-looking man looked up from the blank wall at which he’d been staring for the last hour and brought his beady eyes to bear upon one of the doctoral students that worked alongside him in the Fissions Lab. He recognized her, but could not recall her name at the moment. “Uh…y..yes?” he stammered.
“Doctor, I believe that you have a meeting with the Lab Chiefs in a half-hour, sir. You might want to…” she waved her hands in a flailing manner that Karl found utterly insufficient and rather irritating.
“I might want to…WHAT?” the last word was intentionally harsh; Karl was becoming most disgruntled at being disturbed in the first place. He’d keenly felt that he had been on the edge of some great discovery before he’d been interrupted.
The young lady bit her lip and tried—unsuccessfully—to speak several times. As Dr. VonNuemen’s gaze narrowed, she seemed to reconnect her brainstem to her vocal chords. “It’s just that you’ve been sitting there for nearly seventeen hours, Doctor. You might want to freshen up a bit before meting the Chiefs.” Her nose wrinkled distastefully.
Karl thought she looked like one of the lab rabbits they used to test the FORMULA.
***
'It has been inferred that the addition of PbO and Bi2O3 improves the gamma ray shielding properties. Thus, the effect of chemical composition on these parameters is investigated in the form of six different glass compositions, which are compared with specialty concrete for nuclear radiation shielding. The composition termed-'
“Doctor? DOCTOR!” Dr. Raymond Etchingham, Senior Lab Chief, Nuclear Fission Research Division, was about to have a coronary. He was well past the end of his patience with this man, regardless of how brilliant he was supposed to be.
Something small and remote snapped Karl out of his critical line of thinking, but he could not for the life of him understand what…it was only when he saw Raymond’s face, flushed red, and his spittle-flecked lips that he had a clue. Dr. VonNuemen did not reply, but merely arched an eyebrow like Spock from Star Trek.
Oh! How he admired that Vulcan!
Oh! How he admired that Vulcan!
“You have nothing to say, Doctor?” Etchingham asked. The other Lab Chiefs looked on with severe disapproval.
“Yes, I do.” Karl replied. “You interrupted me, Raymond. I was in the middle of an important thought and you made me lose it. You should apologize.” It was a fact, stated simply.
“WHAT?!? You mean to tell me that after all we’ve been through in the past six months, that’s all you have to say to me? After all of the cover-ups, after all your near-disasters and our attempts to keep your funding secured, that’s all you…”
The man continued to rail on, endlessly, for the next several hours, but Karl did not hear him. His thoughts were overtaken, again, by the FORMULA - and just how close Karl was to a solution…
***
Karl was only distantly aware that he had not slept in a couple of weeks. He was not aware—at all—of what time it was, but it felt to him like it was early morning. Perhaps this was due, he thought, to the feeling of discovery which was welling up inside him, like the dawn of a new morning.
Morning.
Coffee.
'Caffeine...systematic name 3,7-dihydro-1,3,7-trimethyl-1H-purine-2,6-dione; it is also known as 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine, and 1,3,7-trimethyl-2,6-dioxopurine. Caffeine can be classified as an alkaloid , a term used for substances produced as end products of nitrogen metabolism in some plants. The chemical formula is C 8 H 10 N 4 O 2 . Caffeine has a molar mass of 194.19 grams (6.85 ounces). It is soluble in water and in many organic solvents, and it appears in pure form as white crystals. Caffeine can be prepared by extraction from natural sources or by synthesis from uric acid.’
That was it.
That was what was missing from the FORMULA.
Dr. Karl VonNeumen quickly donned his protective shielding suit and obtained the glowing canister that held his greatest creation—the FORMULA—and added it to his cup of morning coffee. It didn’t matter anymore if it was really morning or not.
Karl knew without a doubt that this was about to truly be the dawn of a new day…
…for all mankind.
Story and Characters: (c)/by Brannon Hollingsworth
#MMWW, #Makes, #Me, #Wanna, #Write, #BrannonHollingsworth, #scientist, #research, #insidemyownmind, #odd, #nuts, #science, #helostit, #atomic, #crazy
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