[HN Gopher] David Hahn, the 'Radioactive Boy Scout' Who Tried to...
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       David Hahn, the 'Radioactive Boy Scout' Who Tried to Build a
       Nuclear Reactor
        
       Author : geox
       Score  : 27 points
       Date   : 2024-02-24 20:06 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (allthatsinteresting.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (allthatsinteresting.com)
        
       | MilnerRoute wrote:
       | Interesting article about the day he died at age 39...
       | 
       | https://thenewstack.io/memories-life-radioactive-boy-scout/
        
       | jzw8833 wrote:
       | I remember reading an MIT admissions article mentioning him: "A
       | few years ago, we did not admit a student who had created a
       | fully-functional nuclear reactor in his garage."
       | 
       | https://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways/
        
         | yongjik wrote:
         | That article made me a bit sad. MIT might have made the right
         | call, but I expected some reflection on why MIT rejected him,
         | and the essay is just trite "Oh you just have to be good at
         | academics, don't worry, there's nothing specific we require for
         | admission, which means you can totally do it!"
        
       | freitzkriesler2 wrote:
       | His story is so sad and how it all shook out. I'm surprised he
       | didn't get into the nuke program in the Navy. Definitely a shame
       | no one took him under his wing.
        
       | oven9342 wrote:
       | Cruising across town sporting a Geiger counter on the dashboard,
       | now that's a real crossover between cool and nerd.
       | 
       | It's a pity that a genius like him didn't make it to the MIT and
       | ended up arrested
        
       | oglop wrote:
       | Wow. I remember reading about this years and years ago and
       | thinking this kid would have such a bright future.
       | 
       | Now I'm an old man and looking at this story my thoughts are more
       | "this kid could never have had a chance in these school systems".
       | Strange to observe my own change in perspective too.
        
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       (page generated 2024-02-24 23:01 UTC)