Tag Archives: radiation

Nightholder Protects Against Mobile Phone Radiation

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nightholder Nightholder Protects Against Mobile Phone Radiation
If you are one of those people concerned with the low levels or radiation emitting from your cell phone, the Nightholder can protect you while you sleep. Place your phone in this open sided metal tube next to your bed while you sleep with the screen facing away from you. The stainless steel tube reflects 75% of the radiation away from you while the uncovered side lets you get good reception and access your phone if you use it as an alarm clock. So you can sleep safe and sound.

Nightholder Protects Against Mobile Phone Radiation

Curiosity rover discovers dangerous levels of radiation during Mars transit

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Data from NASA's Curiosity could help protect future explorers from radiation

While we've learned that radiation levels on Mars are safe for humans, actually getting there in the first place remains a problem. Recent results from Curiosity's Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) reveal that exposure even while safely ensconced inside a protected spacecraft is dangerously high. Explorers would be bombarded with 466 milliSieverts of high-energy galactic cosmic rays and solar particles during the 253-day transit and the same coming back, with total levels that could exceed NASA's career radiation limit for astronauts. "In terms of accumulated dose, it's like getting a whole-body CT scan once every five or six days," said Cary Zeitlin, a principal scientist from the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) who's the lead author of the findings. A manned Mars voyage isn't completely out of the question, but it does mean better shielding is necessary before such a trip -- much less a future colony -- becomes a reality.

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Source: NASA

San Francisco gives up the fight over mobile phone warnings

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San Francisco’s local officials have proposed a law that requires cell phone makers to display warning stickers on their products. The stickers will warn users as to the amount of energy or radiation...
    


Electron showers could create the nano-spacesuit of the future

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Electron showers could create the nanospacesuit of the future

Historically, whenever man or beast's been bombarded with massive amounts of radiation the results have either been gruesome or wholly fantastical (see: any superhero origin story). But recent research out of Japan indicates that a barrage of electrons could actually help scientists revolutionize microbiology and, more excitingly, space travel. The experiment, conducted by a team from the Hamamatsu University of Medicine, found that the larvae of fruit flies hit with this electron rush were able to withstand an electron microscope's hostile vacuum unharmed and even grew to be healthy adults. The results weren't so rosy for the untreated group which, understandably, suffered a grislier fate: death by dehydration. The magic, it turns out, is in that subatomic spray, as the group treated with an electron shower benefited from a polymerizing effect or, more plainly, a bonding of molecules just above the skin's surface that yielded a tough, protective nano-layer measuring between 50- to 100-billionths of a meter thick. Finesse that technique some and it's easy to why one NASA scientist thinks this could lead to the creation of a super-thin "space shield... that could protect against dehydration and radiation."

The process is still far from foolproof, however, seeing as how an increase in the microscope's resolution requires an equal boost in radiation -- all of which is fatal to the insects. So, in order to go deeper and get a more close-up view of the larvae's internals, the team's currently exploring new methods of fabricating these "nano-suits" using an array of chemicals. If you're wondering just how far-off we are from practical human application, then consider this: the amount of radiation required to form the bonded layer is akin to "sunbathing naked on the top of Everest under a hole in the ozone." Which is to say, keep dreaming. And get Jeff Goldblum on the phone while you're at it... we have a promising idea for a Return of the Fly sequel.

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Via: Wired

Source: ScienceNOW

FCC confident in its mobile phone radiation limits, seeks second opinions

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FCC confident in its mobile phone radiation limits, seeks second opinions

Cast your memory back to last summer. Sweep away memories of iPhone 5 leaks galore, and you might remember that the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) asked the FCC to reevaluate its radiation limits for mobile phones. Now a few seasons later, the FCC has finally wrapped up a report that responds to the GAO, and there are no changes to its RF radiation levels in sight because it feels comfortable with its current caps. "We continue to have confidence in the current exposure limits, and note that more recent international standards have a similar basis," reads the report. However, given that its guidelines were adopted in 1996, new research on radiation and the proliferation of mobile devices, the FCC would like some feedback regarding its restrictions. It's put out a call for comments from concerned parties and even federal health and safety bodies.

Though the freshly-released document didn't rock the proverbial boat, it made one change worth noting. The pinna (outer ear) is now classified an extremity, which means the FCC allows devices to hit the tissue with more radiation. Feel like poring through 201 pages of regulatory minutiae? Click the source link below for the commission's full dossier.

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Via: The Verge

Source: FCC

Inspiration Mars ship using human waste as a radiation shield: no really, it’s fine

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Inspiration Mars mission will use human waste for radiation shielding no really, it works

Dennis Tito is planning an ambitious private flyby of Mars for 2018 that will carry all kinds of logistical challenges during its proposed 501-day span, not the least of which is shielding the crew from radiation without consuming valuable resources. The team's solution is a clever one, if not especially pretty: human waste. While the walls of the Inspiration Mars spacecraft will initially be lined with water-filled bags to guard against cosmic rays, their contents will be gradually replaced with er, byproduct that will be dehydrated through the bag (possibly using polyethylene) to reclaim and purify water for drinking. As water-based materials are better at stopping radiation than metal, the approach theoretically represents the best of all worlds with less bulk, a simpler life support system and maximum room for supplies. If the Inspiration Mars group can keep the bags working at high efficiency in space, it won't have to worry about its travelers' safety; their comfort with being surrounded by their own waste may be another matter.

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Source: New Scientist

Researchers build a working tractor beam, on a very small scale

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Researchers develop a working tractor beam, on a very small scale

We recently saw research that suggested negative radiation pressure in light could lead to a practical tractor beam. A partnership between the Czech Republic's Institute of Scientific Instruments and Scotland's University of St. Andrews can show that it's more than just theory: the two have successfully created an optical field that flipped the usual pressure and started pulling objects toward the light. Their demo only tugged at the particle level -- sorry, no spaceships just yet -- but it exhibited unique properties that could be useful here on Earth. Scientists discovered that the pull is specific to the size and substance of a given object, and that targets would sometimes reorganize themselves in a way that improved the results. On the current scale, that pickiness could lead to at least medicinal uses, such as sorting cells based on their material. While there's more experiments and development to go before we ever see a tractor beam at the hospital, the achievement brings us one step closer to the sci-fi future we were always told we'd get, right alongside the personal communicators and jetpacks.

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Via: BBC

Source: University of St. Andrews, Nature

Mr. Ghost EMF Detector Lets You Go on a Ghost Hunt with Your iPhone

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Depending on the accessory, you can transform your iPhone into a video game console, a bottle opener, a wallet, a pepper spray, and now a ghost detector. Yes, all of these accessories except for the latter function are already available in the market today. The last one will soon be available as well, since the gizmo that will make it possible is still currently up for funding on Kickstarter.

mr ghost emf radiation detectorBasically, the EMF detector, dubbed as “Mr. Ghost,” works with an app to help you detect and track the source of invisible electromagnetic radiation in your house, at your office, at school, and in virtually any place where you suspect that there might be ghosts. Yes, I know that EM radiation isn’t actually left behind by ghosts, but it still might come in handy for detecting actual sources of electromagnetic interference.

The accessory plugs right into your iPhone’s headphone jack, so no set-up required. Just fire up the app and point your device any which way you want it to and you’re good to go.

Mr. Ghost is currently up for funding on Kickstarter, where a minimum pledge of $20(USD) will get you one of your very own.

Caltech wizards develop terahertz-radiating chips, eye homeland security and ‘touchless gaming’ applications

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Caltech wizards develop terahertzradiating chips, eye homeland security and 'touchless gaming' applications

A duo of electrical engineers (or mad scientists, if you prefer) at the California Institute of Technology have developed chips that could very well end up in the next James Bond movie. Or, you know, real life. The newfangled chips are capable of generating and radiating "high-frequency electromagnetic waves, called terahertz (THz) waves, that fall into a largely untapped region of the electromagnetic spectrum." They can penetrate a host of materials without the ionizing damage of X-rays, and apparently, can be integrated into small, handheld devices. The university is already dreaming of potential applications -- everything from homeland security to wireless communications to health care, and even touchless gaming. In theory, this kind of work would eventually lead to noninvasive cancer diagnosis as well. The technobabble can be seen in full at the source link.

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Source: Caltech

Curiosity rover finds radiation levels on Mars are safe for humans

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Curiosity rover finds radiation levels on Mars are safe for humans

It's been three months since NASA's Curiosity rover set foot wheels down on Martian terrain, and now the space agency has divulged what it's learned about radiation on Mars. Marking the first time radiation has been measured from the surface of another planet, preliminary data collected using the rover's Radiation Assessment Detector (or RAD for short) revealed that levels on the ground are similar to what astronauts encounter on the International Space Station. What's that mean for space travel? "The astronauts can live in this environment," Don Hassler, principal investigator on Curiosity's RAD hardware, said in a press conference. However, humans would still experience higher levels of radiation on the way to and from the red planet than on its surface. The results are encouraging, but they're just one of many developments left before Homo sapiens set foot on Mars. For more details on the RAD's findings, look below for the press release.

Continue reading Curiosity rover finds radiation levels on Mars are safe for humans

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Curiosity rover finds radiation levels on Mars are safe for humans originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 17 Nov 2012 13:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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