The potato tuber is a living organism. It breathes and, importantly, is very sensitive. Potatoes lie in a dark cellar, but as soon as the sun warms up and a gentle spring breeze blows over the fields, the potatoes begin to awaken from their “slumber,” even in the dark. They start to sprout, sending out long, thin shoots filled with nutrients.
A heavily sprouted tuber is no longer suitable for consumption. People have tried many methods to “put the potato to sleep” and slow down its sprouting, but until the discovery of sleep-inducing atoms, long-term storage was an expensive endeavor.
Now, small doses of radioactive cobalt isotopes are placed in long tubes and inserted among the potatoes in storage. Just two months of exposure is enough to keep the tubers “asleep” for many months, both in winter and summer.