Hacker News Reader

Comment by warent | Hacker News Reader

I can only believe that people who enter highly radioactive areas illegally just have no idea what radioactivity is really like. It's invisible, so it's easy to imagine that nothing is really happening.

In my mind, the first image I get at the thought of radioactivity is how a cloud chamber is affected by it [1]. Imagine that, except everything around you, all the time, much more violently.

Yeah, no thanks.

1: https://youtu.be/ZiscokCGOhs?t=109

View on HN

I would say the same feeling is had with global warming and climate change. You can't really see it, you can't really connect rainfall + sunlight directly to anything to do with the climate because it really is all just invisible.

Wow that video made radioactivity 100 times scarier for me.

Some people remained living in the zone after disaster. Not really legal and very lonely life. Remember reading account of old woman who was like that.

I'm wondering where did she get groceries and water from and how she dealt with the loneliness.

Water was from well, just like before. She lived kind of traditionally lifestyle, so eggs were from chickens, there was garden (potatoes) etc. I think there might have been cow. For the other stuff, she said a cop went on route around once a week and typically brought her bread. She has son who comes once in months with some stuff.

So basically, very simply lifestyle with weak loose network of people who come rarely but can bring stuff.

She said that it is lonely. She talked to cats etc, animals who stayed. The way she talked, an animal passing around last week was something worth talking about - so it is also routine boring life. (With serious risks, imo, because if she breaks leg or whatever randomly, there is no one to help her for the next week minimum.)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com