Radiation what is it wiki

Radiation of all types can eradicate viruses, making radiokinesis effective against virus-related powers. Superpower Wiki Explore. New Blogs User-Made Powers. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? Radiation Manipulation. History Talk 0.

It means the fire we're watching with our own eyes is giving nearly twice the radiation released by the bomb in Hiroshima. And that's every single hour. Hour after hour, 20 hours since the explosion, so 40 bombs worth by now. Forty-eight more tomorrow.

And it will not stop. Not in a week, not in a month. It will burn and spread its poison until the entire continent is dead! Chernobyl Multiplex's Quantum Field Generator DC Comics uses focused cosmic and quantum radiological phenomena to breach gaps into reality and beyond. Ted Sprague Heroes creating a dangerous bursts of radiation. Dark Samus Metroid Prime can absorb and manipulate Phazon radiation to devastating effect. Some of the radionuclides of concern include cobalt , caesium , americium , and iodine Examples of industries where occupational exposure is a concern include:.

The biological effects of radiation are thought of in terms of their effects on living cells. For low levels of radiation, the biological effects are so small they may not be detected in epidemiological studies. The body repairs many types of radiation and chemical damage. Biological effects of radiation on living cells may result in a variety of outcomes, including:. Radiation hormesis is the unproven theory that a low level of ionizing radiation i.

The theory proposes that such low levels activate the body's DNA repair mechanisms, causing higher levels of cellular DNA-repair proteins to be present in the body, improving the body's ability to repair DNA damage.

This assertion is very difficult to prove using, for example, statistical cancer studies because the effects of very low ionizing radiation levels are too small to be statistically measured amid the "noise" of normal cancer rates. Therefore, the idea of radiation hormesis is considered unproven by regulatory bodies, which generally use the standard " linear, no threshold " LNT model, which states that risk of cancer is directly proportional to the dose level of ionizing radiation.

The LNT model is safer for regulatory purposes because it assumes worst-case damage due to ionizing radiation; therefore, if regulations are based on it, workers might be over-protected, but they will never be under-protected.

At high ionizing radiation levels, such as the acute doses received near the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bomb blasts, the risk of cancer does increase roughly linearly with dose, which is the origin of the LNT model. Thus, there is a consensus that the LNT method should continue to be used because it is safer from a regulatory perspective and because the effects of very low radiation doses are too small to be measured statistically.

See the National Academies Press book. Exposure to ionizing radiation over an extended period of time is called chronic exposure. The natural background radiation is chronic exposure, but a normal level is difficult to determine due to variations.

Geographic location and occupation often affect chronic exposure. Acute radiation exposure is an exposure to ionizing radiation which occurs during a short period of time. There are routine brief exposures, and the boundary at which it becomes significant is difficult to identify. Extreme examples include. The associations between ionizing radiation exposure and the development of cancer are mostly based on populations exposed to relatively high levels of ionizing radiation, such as Japanese atomic bomb survivors, and recipients of selected diagnostic or therapeutic medical procedures.

Cancers associated with high dose exposure include leukemia [6] , thyroid, breast, bladder, colon, liver, lung, esophagus, ovarian, multiple myeloma, and stomach cancers. The period of time between radiation exposure and the detection of cancer is known as the latent period. Those cancers that may develop as a result of radiation exposure are indistinguishable from those that occur naturally or as a result of exposure to other chemical carcinogens. Furthermore, National Cancer Institute literature indicates that other chemical and physical hazards and lifestyle factors, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and diet, significantly contribute to many of these same diseases.

Although radiation may cause cancer at high doses and high dose rates, public health data regarding lower levels of exposure, below about 1, mrem 10 mSv , are harder to interpret. To assess the health impacts of lower radiation doses, researchers rely on models of the process by which radiation causes cancer; several models have emerged which predict differing levels of risk.

Studies of occupational workers exposed to chronic low levels of radiation, above normal background, have provided mixed evidence regarding cancer and transgenerational effects. Cancer results, although uncertain, are consistent with estimates of risk based on atomic bomb survivors and suggest that these workers do face a small increase in the probability of developing leukemia and other cancers.

One of the most recent and extensive studies of workers was published by Cardis et al. The linear dose-response model suggests that any increase in dose, no matter how small, results in an incremental increase in risk.

Ionizing radiation damages tissue by causing ionization, which disrupts molecules directly and also produces highly reactive free radicals , which attack nearby cells. The net effect is that biological molecules suffer local disruption; this may exceed the body's capacity to repair the damage and may also cause mutations in cells currently undergoing replication.

Two widely studied instances of large-scale exposure to high doses of ionizing radiation are: atomic bomb survivors in ; and emergency workers responding to the Chernobyl accident. Approximately plant workers and fire fighters engaged at the Chernobyl power plant received high radiation doses 70, to 1,, mrem or to 13, mSv and suffered from acute radiation sickness.

Of these, 28 died from their radiation injuries. Longer term effects of the Chernobyl accident have also been studied. There is a clear link see the UNSCEAR Report, Volume 2: Effects between the Chernobyl accident and the unusually large number, approximately 1,, of thyroid cancers reported in contaminated areas, mostly in children.

These were fatal in some cases. Other health effects of the Chernobyl accident are subject to current debate. Recognized effects of acute radiation exposure are described in the article on radiation poisoning. The exact units of measurement vary, but light radiation sickness begins at about 50— rad 0.

Human internal radiation due to radon, varies with radon levels [8]. Radiation has always been present in the environment and in our bodies. The human body cannot sense ionizing radiation, but a range of instruments exists which are capable of detecting even very low levels of radiation from natural and man-made sources.

Dosimeters measure an absolute dose received over a period of time. Ion-chamber dosimeters resemble pens, and can be clipped to one's clothing.

Film-badge dosimeters enclose a piece of photographic film , which will become exposed as radiation passes through it. Ion-chamber dosimeters must be periodically recharged, and the result logged.

Film-badge dosimeters must be developed as photographic emulsion so the exposures can be counted and logged; once developed, they are discarded. These dosimeters contain crystals that emit visible light when heated, in direct proportion to their total radiation exposure. Like ion-chamber dosimeters, TLDs can be re-used after they have been 'read'. Geiger counters and scintillation counters measure the dose rate of ionizing radiation directly. Time: For people who are exposed to radiation in addition to natural background radiation, limiting or minimizing the exposure time will reduce the dose from the radiation source.

Distance: Radiation intensity decreases sharply with distance, according to an inverse square law. Shielding: Barriers of lead , concrete , or water give effective protection from radiation formed of energetic particles such as gamma rays and neutrons. Some radioactive materials are stored or handled underwater or by remote control in rooms constructed of thick concrete or lined with lead. There are special plastic shields which stop beta particles and air will stop alpha particles.

The effectiveness of a material in shielding radiation is determined by its halve value thicknesses , the thickness of material that reduces the radiation by half. This value is a function of the material itself and the energy and type of ionizing radiation.

Containment: Radioactive materials are confined in the smallest possible space and kept out of the environment. Radioactive isotopes for medical use, for example, are dispensed in closed handling facilities, while nuclear reactors operate within closed systems with multiple barriers which keep the radioactive materials contained.

Rooms have a reduced air pressure so that any leaks occur into the room and not out of it. In a nuclear war , an effective fallout shelter reduces human exposure at least 1, times. Most people can accept doses as high as 1 Gy [ How to reference and link to summary or text ] , distributed over several months, although with increased risk of cancer later in life.

Other civil defense measures can help reduce exposure of populations by reducing ingestion of isotopes and occupational exposure during war time.

One of these available measures could be the use of potassium iodide KI tablets which effectively block the uptake of dangerous radioactive iodine into the human thyroid gland. Psychology Wiki Explore. Animal defensive behavior Kinesis Animal escape behavior Cooperative breeding Sexual cannibalism Cannibalism zoology Animal aggressive behavior.

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