donald haarmann wrote:
"Farooq W"

|
| My fault... Its ppm for entries below SO3. More surprising the uptake
| of heavy metals especially Th and U by the plants...Barium is
| abnormally high or the soil on which that tree grew was rich in barium
| ores!
|

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The up take of uranium by plants is well know. See for example :-

Botanical Prospecting for Uranium on La Ventana Mesa, Sandoval County
New Mexico. US Geological Survey Bulletin 1009-M. 1956.

Some plants uptake serious amounts of selenium.

Description of Indicator Plants and Methods of Botanical Prospecting for
Uranium Deposits on the Colorado Plateau. US Geological Survey Bulletin
1030-M. 1957.


Well that is truly interesting to me. Could I possibly compress one of
these high selenium content plants and use that substance electrically?
That is, could it be carbonized (such as charcoal) and then further
processed without special tools?

The selenium rectifier was the first semi-conductor device ever
created, not including detector diodes. It was invented in 1933 by C.E.
Fitts, and was being built by Sylvania about 1935. If you remember
tubes, RCA had the monopoly from 1919 until 1941. Sylvania was a
competitor, but they built military stuff, and unlike the tubes built by
RCA, Sylvania's were encased in metal, rather than glass.

Please see: "Road to the Transistor"

http://www.jmargolin.com/history/trans.htm

Sylvania built a lot of heavy industrial and military components, and
the invention of the selenium rectifier was a way to eliminate a
(breakable) tube. They also produced the last tube built in the United
States, in 1977.

I like to think that if I suddenly found myself to be naked in the
wilderness, that I would have the potential to make anything at all that
we have now. Unfortunately, selenium is toxic, so the device would have
to be well encased.

Ah! How to make natural epoxy? More; how to draw wire from a stone?

Michael