System of Fear: A Dose of Radiation Reality

In line with last week’s post, please see the below infographic, which paints radiation doses in the visual context of a sort of system of planets according to size (click to enlarge): As is plainly evident, it’s shocking how much the public perception of radiation doses and negative health effects differs from reality. (For example, […]

Nuclear and Atomic Radiation Concepts Pictographically Demystified

Greetings, all. Today I’m attempting a different, largely pictographic approach to demystifying the concept of “radiation” for the layperson. Despite the hype, radiation is a natural part of our planet’s, solar system’s, and galaxy’s environment, and one that our biology is equipped to mitigate at ordinary intensities. It’s all actually surprisingly straightforward. So, without further ado, here […]

Calculating your own natural radiation dose in context

A Dose of Radiation Information How much radiation is normal? In light of Fukushima, sensationalized media, political fear-stoking, and rampant misinformation regarding radioactivity, consider this post an easy-to-reference tool/resource. With it, you can be armed to understand and quickly make sense of this over-mystified, natural aspect of reality when it comes up. For starters, here’s the simple reality about […]

Radiation, Japan, and Irresponsible Reporting: Part IV

This post has been lying in wait for quite some time. I thought it best that I let it simmer and distill for a while… The truth is that I was simply getting too frustrated with the Fukushima coverage to compose a sensible post. Now, with a little extra time and perspective, please allow me […]

H.G. Wells, Crichton, and Planetary Protection

Much of the challenge of communicating scientific concepts to the public at-large comes in attempting to find ways to make ideas easily digestible. When talking about human space exploration, the possibility of finding extraterrestrial life, or the recovery of cultural artifacts from non-terrestrial sources, the concept of planetary protection is key. Basically, planetary protection stresses the […]

Radiation, Japan, and irresponsible reporting: Part III

As detailed in Part I and Part II of this series, the vocabulary of radiation science, (known as “health physics,”) is being chronically misused and confused by the news media in its coverage of the Fukushima nuclear incident in Japan, and critical context is being ignored when details are reported. The result? There is so […]

Radiation, Japan, and irresponsible reporting: Part II

So, after my last post, you’ve got the subtle (and not-so-subtle) differences between radioactivity (overweight atoms), radioactive material (the material containing or composed of the overweight atoms), radiation (invisible light and particles emitted by the overweight atoms), and contamination (having radioactive material someplace you don’t want it). Hopefully, you can also see why mixing these […]

Radiation, Japan, and irresponsible reporting: Part I

While the media continues to sensationalize what is already a “gee-whiz” bewildering topic for most ordinary people on planet Earth – nuclear reactors and radioactivity – the recent run on Potassium-Iodide tablets in the United States and on the Internet betrays just how badly the outlets are throwing gasoline on the raging inferno of ignorance […]

Space radiation has Astronauts seeing stars

There are many astronauts experiences that are well understood. Everyone knows about “weightlessness,” or floating in a microgravity environment, (which is actually perpetual free-fall around the Earth, but that’s a technicality for another post.) Everyone has heard about the problem of space sickness that hits some astronauts and not others. Disruptions in our sense […]

Dealing with space contamination

Planetary Protection, despite how it sounds, does not refer to a Bruce-Willis-style suicide mission to save Earth from an incoming asteroid. However, it is one of those practical space exploration concerns that will only get more important with time. So, what is planetary protection (PP)? Think of it as the discipline of preventing the spread […]