3131: Cesium

2025-08-21T03:06:46Z

2600:1702:5F49:B210:8DD5:B444:5109:92BE: Shrimp was not found to be contaminated

{{comic
| number = 3131
| date = August 20, 2025
| title = Cesium
| image = cesium_2x.png
| imagesize = 588x298px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Someday I hope to find a way to mess up a recipe so badly that it draws the attention of the International Air Transport Association, the International Mathematical Olympiad, or the NSA.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a disastrous recipe-creating bot. Need more on the other firms mentioned in the title text and ideas on how he could suceede. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
{{w|Cesium-137}} (Cs-137) is a radioactive {{w|isotope}} of {{w|Caesium|cesium (a.k.a. "caesium")}}. This comic was posted the day after the {{w|FDA}} posted an [https://www.fda.gov/food/alerts-advisories-safety-information/fda-advises-public-not-eat-sell-or-serve-certain-imported-frozen-shrimp-indonesian-firm advisory] about frozen shrimp sourced from an Indonesian firm, because they were nearby materials contaminated with Cs-137 during shipment.

Rather than being concerned about the potential health impacts, [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are curious about the technical details that led to this contamination. Cs-137 is normally a by-product of nuclear reactors and is occasionally used in {{w|Food_irradiation|food irradiation}}, along with other more common uses. Cueball and Megan cannot fathom how one could unintentionally contaminate shrimp with radioactive waste, and Cueball comments that his biggest culinary screw-up only attracted the attention of his local fire department, likely because he set something on fire while cooking. A real-life example of seemingly-random contamination by Cs-137 was the {{w|Goiânia accident}} in Brazil.

The title text says that one of Cueball's (or possibly Randall's) ambitions is to draw the attention of various organizations ({{w|International Air Transport Association}} (IATA), {{w|International Mathematical Olympiad}} or the {{w|National Security Agency}} (NSA)) with a recipe he has butchered, either by accident or, more likely in his case, on purpose. Possessing and accidentally releasing a radiation source like Cs-137 could get the attention of the NSA. Needless to say, it is difficult to imagine in a cooking error that could be in any way brought to the attention of IATA or IMO. Unless Cueball is a professional cook, the phrase "mess[ing] up a recipe" means attempting to cook it at home (or at the home of friends or family). This would be unlikely to create a problem on a scale that an international agency would take note of.

===How to attract attention===
To attract the attention of the IATA, if the recipe is used in major airports, and the recipe is contaminated with a drug, the pilots that eat could experience vision loss or other problems, and if this recipe is widely used and normal people won't notice much besides minor side effects, then this could attract the attention of of the IATA.

Attracting the attention of the NSA is pretty easy to think of, there could be a secret code hidden in the ingredients of a recipe, and if the code affects the whole nation, then this could attract the attention of NSA.

A recipe to attract the attention of the International Mathematical Olympiad is much harder to imagine. A possibility is some person is trying to give answers to a person in the olympiad, and gave the person a recipe with the answers as a secret code inside, and this will attract the attention of the International Mathematical Olympiad. However, these are most probably all on purpose and will be very rare to accidentally make these recipes.

==Transcript==
:[Megan looks at a news story on her phone while talking with Cueball.]
:Megan: There's a recall of frozen shrimp contaminated with cesium-137.
:Cueball: With ''what?''
:Megan: I know, right?
:Cueball: ''How!?''

:[Megan has put her phone away and she shrugs with her arms held out palm up.]
:Megan: No idea, but I bet it involved some expensive equipment. Those cesium sources aren't cheap.
:Cueball: Man.

:[Megan stands normally while Cueball holds a hand to his chin.]
:Megan: It's honestly a little inspiring to realize that it's always possible to screw up in a totally new way.
:Cueball: Yeah, the biggest agency whose attention '''''I've''''' drawn by messing up a recipe is the local fire department.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Math]]

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3131: Cesium