Author: Maria Temming / Source: Science News
In the event of a nuclear attack or accident, personal electronics could be repurposed as radiation detectors.
A ceramic insulator found in many devices, such as cell phones and fitness trackers, gives off a glow under high heat that reveals its past nuclear radiation exposure, researchers report in the February Radiation Measurements. That insight may allow experts to gauge someone’s radiation dose in a matter of hours, whereas typical blood tests can take weeks.
“Everybody panics when it comes to radiation,” says study coauthor Robert Hayes, a nuclear engineer at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Quickly estimating people’s risk of radiation-related sickness after a nuclear disaster could help triage emergency medical treatment.
When nuclear radiation…
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