It is generally conceded by most reasonable (and hell, probably some unreasonable) individuals, that radiation in excess, like anything else, can do more harm than good. Now, we all know that radium dials are a feature of vintage watch and clock collecting. We all also know the cautionary tale of the Radium Girls, who received fatal doses of radiation from the practice of licking the tips of radium paint brushes, in the early 1920s. We jested light-heartedly about the subject on the late lamented Friday Live. And we all know that such dials should pose little in the way of actual hazards as long as you don't make the mistake of opening up the watch, and accidentally inhale a fragment of radium paint (radium, let's recall, has a half life of about 1600 years, so radium dial watches and clocks from the early part of the 20th century are still enthusiastically emitting radiation).