Criticality Memes

The meme references the infamous "Demon Core" incident at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In 1946, physicist Louis Slotin was performing a criticality experiment on a plutonium core (nicknamed the "Demon Core" after causing a previous fatality) when his screwdriver slipped, causing a prompt critical reaction. He received a lethal dose of radiation and died nine days later. The SpongeBob characters' expressions perfectly capture that split-second realization when you've just initiated a nuclear disaster with your hand tools. Nothing says "career-limiting move" quite like irradiating yourself and your colleagues because you decided safety protocols were more like safety suggestions. Fun fact: Slotin was nicknamed the "chief armorer of the United States" for his work assembling cores. Turns out screwdrivers and fissile material don't mix well. Who knew?

Physicists in the early nuclear age really said "safety equipment? Never heard of her!" Those hemispheres are literal plutonium cores used in nuclear weapons development, and scientists would handle them with basically zero protection. The "demon core" famously killed two physicists when they accidentally initiated brief criticality events by dropping a neutron reflector or using a screwdriver to prop one up. Just casually playing with potential nuclear chain reactions like they're appetizers at a fancy restaurant. "Yes, I'll have another serving of lethal radiation, please!"