Is there a way to extend or reduce the half-life of a radioactive object? Perhaps by subjecting it to more radiation or some other method.
Answer
Have a look at the paragraph "radioactive decay" .
The half life is characteristic of each radioactive nucleus and depends on the basic interactions holding the nucleus together.
It depends on the quantum mechanical probabilities of transition from one energy level to another, sometimes changing element in the periodic table.
Thus, to affect the half life, one would have to affect the basic interactions of the decay mechanism. There have been speculations on what would happen if the QFT vacuum is different, as in the Casimir effect, (a simpler explanation here), but I have not been able to find an experiment.
The simple answer is, no, the half life cannot change.
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