Something Strange Is Living—and Thriving—Below Fukushima’s Dead Reactors

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a70165451/life-fukushima-reactors/

#environment #strange #weird #weirdnews #fukushima #japan #reactors #nuclear #nuclearwaste #deadnuclear #nuclearnews #japannews #godzilla #gojira #Ionizingradiation #bacteria

Handheld detector for all types of ionizing radiation improves radiation safety

https://phys.org/news/2025-04-handheld-detector-ionizing-safety.html

#HackerNews #HandheldDetector #RadiationSafety #IonizingRadiation #TechInnovation #HealthTech

Irradiation can cause cancer
The first case of cancer resulting from irradiation was described in 1904. In 1944, it was noticed that doctors working with X-rays were 10 times more likely to die from leukemia compared to other doctors. In the survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, the first cases of leukemia were seen in 1948. As a rule, leukemia occurs after 8 years from exposure, while other types of tumors after 20, 30 or 40 years from exposure.

#cancer #irradiation #Ionizingradiation

Geiger tube J305 conversion factor: differences between the coefficient for source radiation power and absorbed dose. Technical note

We have previously written about how to calculate the coefficients for the SBM20 tube and the J305, tube that come with our Geiger counter module GGreg20_V3 for DIY / IoT…

#technicalnote #ggreg20_v3 #sbm20 #j305 #geigercounter #ionizingradiation #iot #diy #english #ukrainian #2024

https://iot-devices.com.ua/en/geiger-tube-j305-conversion-factor-difference-for-radiation-source-power-and-absorbed-dose-technical-note-en/

Geiger tube J305: How to calculate the conversion factor of CPM to μSv/h. Technical note

We have already made a similar publication for the SBM20 Geiger tube. This time we bring to your attention an article dedicated to the equally popular J305 tube made in…

#technicalnote #sbm20 #j305
#geigercounter
#ionizingradiation #iot #diy #english #ukrainian

https://iot-devices.com.ua/en/geiger-tube-j305-how-to-calculate-the-conversion-factor-of-cpm-technical-note-en/

Maybe the Simplest Cloud Chamber

Have you ever seen a Wilson cloud chamber -- a science experiment that lets you visualize ionizing radiation? How hard would it be to build one? If you follow [stoppi's] example, not hard at all (German, Google Translate link). A plastic bottle. some tape, a flashlight, some water, hot glue, and -- the only exotic part -- a bit of americium 241. You can see the design in the video below and the page also has some more sophisticated designs including one that uses a CPU cooler. Even if you don't speak German, the video will be very helpful.

You need to temper your expectations if you build the simple version, but it appears to work. The plastic bottle is a must because you have to squeeze it to get a pressure change in the vessel.

If you are wondering where to get americium-241, check out a junked smoke detector. The second video, below, has details about how to harvest it from that common source. You need something that fits in the bottle cap.

It is hard to see on the video, but different types of ionizing radiation leave telltale tracks in the chamber. Alpha particles tend to leave thick straight tracks whereas beta particles tend to be more delicate and curvy. Although in modern times these are more or less science curiosities, there was a time they were real lab equipment and they participated in the discovery of the positron, the muon, and the kaon.

If you want to try a bigger chamber, we've seen it done. Some chambers use alcohol and dry ice.

#science #cloudchamber #ionizingradiation #wilsoncloudchamber

Remoticon 2021 // Sergiy Nesterenko Keeps Hardware Running Through Lightning and Cosmic Rays

Getting to space is hard enough. You have to go up a few hundred miles, then go sideways really fast to enter orbit. But getting something into space is one thing: keeping a delicate instrument working as it travels there is quite another. In his talk at Remoticon 2021, [Sergiy Nesterenko], former Radiation Effects Engineer at SpaceX, walks us through all the things that can destroy your sensitive electronics on the way up.

The trouble already starts way before liftoff. Due to an accident of geography, several launch sites are located in areas prone to severe thunderstorms: not the ideal location to put a 300-foot long metal tube upright and leave it standing for a day. Other hazards near the launch pad include wayward wildlife and salty spray from the ocean.

Those dangers are gone once you're in space, but then suddenly heat becomes a problem: if your spacecraft is sitting in full sunlight, it will quickly heat up to 135 °C, while the parts in the shade cool off to -150 °C. A simple solution is to spin your craft along its axis to ensure an even heat load on all sides, similar to the way you rotate sausages on your barbecue.

But one of the most challenging problems facing electronics in space is radiation. [Sergiy] explains in detail the various types of radiation that a spacecraft might encounter: charged particles in the Van Allen belts, cosmic rays once you get away from Low Earth orbit, and a variety of ionized junk ejected from the Sun every now and then. The easiest way to reduce the radiation load on your electronics is simply to stay near Earth and take cover within its magnetic field.

For interplanetary spacecraft there's no escaping the onslaught, and the only to survive is to make your electronics "rad-hard". Shielding is generally not an option because of weight constraints, so engineers make use of components that have been tested in radiation chambers to ensure they will not suddenly short-circuit. Adding redundant circuits as well as self-monitoring features like watchdog timers also helps to make flight computers more robust.

[Sergiy]'s talk is full of interesting anecdotes that will delight the inner astronaut in all of us. Ever imagined a bat trying to hitch a ride on a Space Shuttle? As it turns out, one aspiring space bat did just that. And while designing space-qualified electronics is not something most of us do every day, [Sergiy]'s experiences provide plenty of tips for more down-to-earth problems. After all, salt and moisture will eat away cables on your bicycle just as they do on a moon rocket.

Be sure to also check out the links embedded in the talk's slides for lots of great background information.

#cons #hackadaycolumns #space #2021hackadayremoticon #ionizingradiation #radiationhardening