Ionising radiation, such as gamma rays, X-rays and radioactive particles can cause cancer by damaging DNA. However, how this happens, or how many tumours are caused by radiationdamagehas not been known. Previous work on cancer had revealed that DNA damage often leaves a molecular fingerprint, ...
First let’s start with gamma rays. In certain radionuclides the atom’s nucleus is left in an excited state after beta or alpha decay. This energy is then released via a very high energy photon. By high energy I mean several MeV, and due to that gamma rays are very penetrative. It t...
Buying organic food is important not only for our personal health but for the health of the land, and by buying local produce we lessen the pollution caused by transport and refrigeration. Radioactive Pollution Radioactivity occurs naturally in the earth and in the cosmic rays which reach the ...
Cosmic rays in action. The main findings in the new Svensmark paper concern the uppermost stellar band, the green band of living things and, on the right, atmospheric chemistry. Although solar modulation of galactic cosmic rays is important to us on short timescales, its effects are smaller and...
Irradiation methods offer low temperatures, short processing times, and comparatively lower cost of operation, making irradiation techniques promising for medical products. Gamma irradiation is the most employed form of ionizing irradiation sterilization with high penetration ability. Gamma rays are high-ener...