the.com/radiation
the universe's invisible whisper, equally happy to heal you or end you
means Energy traveling outward through space or a medium as waves or particles — from sunlight and radio signals to the more dangerous emissions of nuclear decay.
from From the Latin 'radius,' meaning a ray, spoke, or rod — the same root that gives us 'ray' and 'radius.' The verb 'radiare,' to emit beams, gave English 'radiate,' and 'radiation' followed as the noun for that spreading-out of rays. Long before anyone knew about gamma rays or X-rays, the word simply described light fanning out like spokes from a wheel's hub; the menacing modern sense came only after physicists found energies the eye couldn't see.
- banana dose
- Bananas are radioactive enough to measure in eaten units
- deep space glow
- The cosmic microwave background is the Big Bang's afterglow
- cancer killer
- Targeted radiation destroys tumors while sparing healthy tissue
- Curie's notebooks
- Still radioactive, stored in lead-lined boxes today
- taste of metal
- High doses can make air smell like ozone and metal
chernobyl disaster — 1986 nuclear accident in ukraine that released 400 times more radiation than hiroshima
fukushima daiichi meltdown — 2011 japan nuclear plant accident triggered by tsunami, level 7 event
marie curie polonium exposure — scientist's death in 1934 from aplastic anemia caused by radiation contamination
hiroshima atomic bombing — august 1945 japan, 70,000+ instant deaths from thermal and radiation exposure