What is radioactivity?
Where are you from? Send us a postcard! Strange Attractor, c/ PO Box 9, Fitzroy, VIC 3065, AustraliaWhat is radioactivity? Including alpha, beta & gamma decay, half-life, background radiation & health effects (Physics.org)Types of radioactivity (Andy Darvill's Science Site)The difference between radioactivity & radiation (The Conversation)Cool chart that shows radiation doses for all sorts of things...including sleeping next to someone & eating a banana (xkcd)Alpha, beta & gamma penetration (HyperPhysics, Georgia State University)Alpha, beta & gamma penetration (BBC, GCSE)Radioactive elements can 'decay' into other elements — here's the crazy decay chain for uranium-238 (Wikipedia)There are 29 radioactive elements on Earth & thousands more radioactive isotopes (Wikipedia)Some examples of radioactive isotopes or 'radionuclides' (Wikipedia)Some 'nuclides' are stable, but most are radioactive & decay — here's a list of >900 with half-lives from <1 hour to >50 million years (Wikipedia)The number 20 is a 'score' in ye olde talk (Wikipedia)What is uranium? (Jefferson Lab)What is plutonium? (Jefferson Lab)What is an alpha particle? (Physics Department, Idaho State University)During alpha decay, alpha particles (helium nuclei) are released from a radioactive atom's nucleus (Wikipedia)The crazy strong nuclear forces involved (HyperPhysics, Georgia State University)Conservation of energy — it can neither be lost nor gained (Encyclopaedia Britannica)Energy equals mass: e=mc^2 & all that malarky (livescience)Alpha particles are the least harmful in that they are large & can be easily stopped by e.g. paper; however, if ingested they're super dangerous (HyperPhysics, Georgia State University)Radioactive elements are inherently unstable (Reference)Sometimes you have to wait a loooooong time for a radioactive element to spit out a particle, like 4.5 billion years (Wikipedia)Everything is radioactive in the periodic table from 83 (bismuth) onwards (Wikipedia)Why is radioactive decay random & spontaneous? (I'm a scientist get me out of here)Schrödinger's cat (IFL Science)What is polonium? (Jefferson Lab)What is alchemy? (livescience)What is an isotope? (HyperPhysics, Georgia State University)What is an isotope? (The Conversation)Fact or fiction?: Lead can be turned into gold (Scientific American)It sounds like isotopes can indeed have too few neutrons, as well as too many (The Naked Scientists)What is a beta particle? (Idaho State University)Beta radioactivity (HyperPhysics, Georgia State University)An electron is ~1,800 times smaller than a proton (Jefferson Lab)What is a gamma ray? (Idaho State University)Gamma rays consist of high-energy photons (Wikipedia)Gamma radioactivity (HyperPhysics, Georgia State University)Ionising radiation "carries enough energy to free electrons from atoms or molecules, thereby ionising them" (Wikipedia)How radiation sickness works (Science, How Stuff Works)Too much ionising radiation is bad...but humans have evolved to be able to cope with a certain amount of background radiation (World Nuclear Association)Natural background radiation (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Association)Bananas are a bit radioactive because they contain potassium: The banana equivalent dose (Wikipedia)Still cleaning up: 30 years after the Chernobyl disaster (The Atlantic)Flying and health: Cosmic radiation exposure for casual flyers and aircrew (Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency)Health threats for astronauts from cosmic rays (Wikipedia)How does lead absorb radiation like x-rays and gamma rays? (The Naked Scientists)How do x-rays work? (Wonderopolis)Radiation therapy employs x-rays, gamma rays & charged particles to kill cancer cells (National Cancer Institute)The 'gamma knife' delivers precise beams of radiation to diseased brain tissue or tumour from a large number of directions (Imaginis)Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans don't use radiation (National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering)Computed tomography (CT) scans use ionising radiation (National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering)Positron emission tomography (PET) scans use radiopharmaceuticals (National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering)Alexander Litvinenko: Profile of murdered Russian spy — the guy who drank tea with polonium-210 in it (BBC News)Want some polonium-209? It'll set you back USD$3,200 per microcurie (Jefferson Lab) Sydney's Lucas Heights reactor to ramp up nuclear medicine production to meet world demand (ABC News)Synchrotrons are extremely powerful sources of x-rays (European Synchrotron Radiation Facility)The Australian synchrotron is in Clayton (Australian Synchrotron)Ikea SpringvaleHow does a nuclear power station work? (Explain That Stuff!)A discussion about whether Mark Watney from 'The Martian' had a high cancer risk after heating up his little car with a radioactive source (Quora)How to protect astronauts from space radiation on Mars (NASA)Radioactive waste management (World Nuclear Association)Nuclear agencies are searching for the signs, language & solutions that will warn our descendants to stay away (FT Magazine)Cockroaches have an exoskeleton so they probably wouldn't know what a skull & cross bones are (Wikipedia)Thaw could release Cold War-era radioactive waste buried under Greenland's ice (ABC News)Greeland is an autonomous country within the Danish realm (Wikipedia)Nuclear power in space (Wikipedia)How do nuclear submarines work? (Science, How Stuff Works)The nuclear submarine that can remain underwater for 25 years (Wired)'Letters of last resort' are written by all new UK Prime Ministers, with instructions to submarine commanding officers on what to do if a nuclear strike wipes out the Government (Wikipedia)Billionaires are buying submarines (The Daily Mail UK)Can nuclear waste be neutralised by bacteria? (Engineering.com)Iggy Pop is indeed alive & currently 69 (IggyPop.com)NirvanaDavid BowieZiggy Stardust (Wikipedia)Billy JoelKim WildeAtomic clocks & cesium...not radioactive even though they sound like it (HyperPhysics, Georgia State University)Atomic clocks (Wikipedia)Microwaves are not radioactive (Cancer Research UK)Mobile phones are not radioactive — they emit electromagnetic radiation, which is very different, & they also don't emit enough energy to break the molecular bonds inside cells (Scientific American)Mobile phones are not radioactive (Skeptic)Here's the patch you stick on your phone that apparently saves you from the evil 'radiation' — decide for yourself (cellsafe)Ionising (bad one) vs non-ionising radiation (Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency) UV light is ionising radiation & can break chemical bonds in cells (livescience)Suffering endures for 'Radium Girls' who painted watches in the '20s (Hartford Web Publishing)The Bachelor, Australia (Channel Ten)Corrections
An exact description of how the Americium-241 in smoke detectors works (Wikipedia)Bismuth's half-life is estimated to be more than a billion times the age of the universe (Wikipedia)Billy Idol isn't chubbsy at all...sorry Billy, you still got it (BillyIdol.net)The metre was originally defined as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator (not Paris) to the North Pole (Wikipedia)One of the main dreams of alchemy was to turn lead (atomic number 82) into gold (atomic number 79), which would have meant losing protons, not gaining (livescience)Cheeky review? (If we may be so bold)
It'd be amazing if you gave us a short review...it'll make us easier to find in iTunes: Click here for instructions. You're the best! We owe you a free hug and/or a glass of wine from our cellar
View all episodes
