Emmanuel Lidden, who lives in Australia, has unexpected legal problems while trying to gather all the elements in the periodic picture with an extraordinary science curiosity. This unique collecting attempt, violating security protocols and laws due to heavy radioactive elements, led him into a complex legal process.
The periodic picture is a list that represents the basic building blocks of nature and is an indispensable element of science. However, the radioactive nature and international security regulations of some elements can make the collection effort dangerous. Liden set out with an ambitious goal of gathering all the elements in the periodic table, while proceeding to radioactive materials such as plutonium. A small example of Plutonium, which he tried to import from the United States to Sidney, mobilized local authorities.
Plutonium’s reaching Sidney was considered a major alarm by the Australian Border Force (ABF). Firefighters, police and radiation experts were called to the scene. Fortunately, no radiation effect was detected on Liden and his family and the house was safe. Nevertheless, this turned Lidden’s collection adventure into a legal dead end. He was the first to be accused of the prevention of the spread of nuclear weapons, and he was sentenced to imprisonment of up to 10 years.
Passion and results of science
Liden’s lawyer John Sutton argued that his client did not have malicious intentions and only a pure enthusiasm for completing the periodic picture. “This was an innocent collecting attempt,” he emphasized his client’s scientific curiosity. However, prosecutors argued that the collection of such illegal materials could lead to the formation of a dangerous market.
The US -based Luciteria company sells periodic table elements for collectors. Although very small examples of elements such as plutonium are described as harmless, this does not change the seriousness of legal regulations. Although Liden believed that he was legal because of the size of the element, he could not escape the legal consequences because of this wrong assumption.
Liden’s passion for extraordinary collection draws attention as a case where scientific curiosity and legal boundaries conflict. While expressing the curiosity of science lovers, this also reveals how important it is to comply with laws and safety standards. Liden is waiting to be punished by the court on 11 April after accepting his crime.
This situation, experienced by Emmanuel Lidden, shows how great individual curiosity can sometimes have consequences. How scientific enthusiasts can be sustained within the legal limits emerges as one of the most important lessons of this event.
