IIRC the Feranti Pegassus computer which graced the London Science Museum until about 10 years ago was blackballed and moved into storage as some electrical distribution switchgear (fuses ?) "contained asbestos". https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co62559/ferranti-pegasus-computer-1956
A sad end, but I guess it failed the can the "acompanying adults" explain it test ... Martin -----Original Message----- From: Paul Koning via cctalk [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 29 July 2026 21:17 To: [email protected] Cc: Carey Schug <[email protected]>; Paul Koning <[email protected]> Subject: [cctalk] Re: DEC and Asbestos > On Jul 29, 2026, at 12:12 PM, Carey Schug via cctalk <[email protected]> > wrote: > > i wondered, and ai confirmed, that vacuum tube computers likely > contained asbestos, but suggested in the vacuum tubes, so probably not > available unless there was destruction of vacuum tubes involved. I don't believe that. I have never seen and can't imagine a vacuum tube with asbestos. What you will find in many small vacuum tubes is mica -- typical receiver tubes (which is what you'd see in a computer) have the elements mounted between two small sheets of mica. But asbestor is porous and fibrous, there isn't any use for that in tubes I can think of. Just another AI hallucination. paul
