1 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:09,639 Speaker 1: Hey, Daniel, what would you sacrifice for the sake of 2 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:13,399 Speaker 1: a big scientific discovery. Oh, that's a good question. I 3 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:17,759 Speaker 1: would give up something juicy. I don't know, weekends, evenings, maybe, 4 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:19,920 Speaker 1: like I don't know, a pinky toe. I'd probably give 5 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:23,040 Speaker 1: up a pinky toe. Really, you wouldn't sacrifice your life 6 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:26,320 Speaker 1: for science. You wouldn't risk your life for a big breakthrough. 7 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:29,160 Speaker 1: I would love to reveal something deep about the universe, 8 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:31,360 Speaker 1: but now I'd like to live to see it. You know, 9 00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 1: I don't think. I don't think scientific breakthroughs are worth 10 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 1: sacrificing your life. Well, you know, some of my my history's 11 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:40,559 Speaker 1: most famous scientists, like Marie Cree, died to make their 12 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:43,919 Speaker 1: prize winning discoveries. That's true, and I'm pretty impressed. Though 13 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:46,639 Speaker 1: I wonder if she really understood, like in advance, how 14 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:50,159 Speaker 1: dangerous that research she was doing actually was. But let 15 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:52,080 Speaker 1: me turn the table on you. Are you willing to 16 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:54,960 Speaker 1: risk your life or something like a really tasty snack? 17 00:00:56,280 --> 00:01:00,920 Speaker 1: How tasty are we talking about? We're talking and long 18 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: yellow and comes naturally wrapped in its own um, in 19 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 1: its own packaging. Oh man, our snacks deadly? Now what 20 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:09,959 Speaker 1: are you talking about? Well, I'm sorry to be the 21 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: one to tell you, but there's something in common between 22 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: Madame Curies research in your favorite snack. Have you heard 23 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:21,280 Speaker 1: the joke of what did Pierre Cree tell Mary Curry? Now, 24 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:24,160 Speaker 1: what did Pierre Curry tell Mary Cury? He said, my dear, 25 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:30,640 Speaker 1: you are positively glowing tonight. You look radiant, Oh man. 26 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 1: I am Jorge. I'm a cartoonist and the creator of 27 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:56,559 Speaker 1: PhD Comics. I'm Daniel, I'm a particle physicist, and together 28 00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:58,680 Speaker 1: were the authors of the book We Have No Idea 29 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 1: and the host of this cast, Daniel and Jorge Explain 30 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: the Universe, a production of I Heart Radio, in which 31 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: we look at things in the universe that makes sense 32 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 1: or don't make sense, or or are slightly confusing or 33 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:13,440 Speaker 1: very confusing, and break them down for you to make 34 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 1: sure we understand what's actually going on. That's right, all 35 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 1: the amazing things in the universe that will astound you 36 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 1: and amaze you and possibly also kill you or save 37 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 1: your life. Sometimes there are good sides to things that 38 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 1: sound dangerous. Yeah, like bananas. Like bananas. Yes, bananas are 39 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: a double edged snack, exactly as we'll get into on 40 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: this podcast. You mean like you eat them and they're delicious, 41 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 1: But then the peel you can slip on and die. Well, 42 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: I assume that you're always wearing you know, safety gear 43 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:50,840 Speaker 1: when you eat a banana, right, banana slipproof shoes. No, 44 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:52,640 Speaker 1: I'm talking about a helmet. If you have a helmet home, 45 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:54,360 Speaker 1: you eat a banana, then you know it's no big deal. 46 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 1: I see, I seem to be On the podcast. We're 47 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:03,119 Speaker 1: tag playing a subject that a couple of people asks online, 48 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: but which is kind of a big deal. It's in 49 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 1: our everyday lives. We use it all the time, and 50 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:12,079 Speaker 1: it can be both dangerous and can also save your 51 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 1: life at the same time. It's something you hear about 52 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:16,799 Speaker 1: a lot in science and science fiction. It's something that's 53 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:20,440 Speaker 1: vaguely mysterious, and I think has suffered from a bad 54 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: PR campaign. It definitely, I think is associated with something bad. 55 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 1: But as we want to show you in today's podcast, 56 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,600 Speaker 1: there's two sides to every particle. So today on the podcast, 57 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: we'll be talking about radiation. Is it good for you? 58 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 1: Is it bad for you? Spicy? Mild? What is radiation anyway? 59 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:46,280 Speaker 1: Is it fizzle when you eat it tastes like bananas? Right? 60 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 1: Is it that are those cans that put on your tongue, 61 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 1: Are those actually radioactive? Right? No? I think you're right. 62 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:54,400 Speaker 1: I think radiation sort of has a bad name in society, right, 63 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 1: Like nobody thinks radiation and things. Oh, I could use 64 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: some of that, thanks, Actually, where do I get some? Yeah? 65 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 1: It definitely is a boogeyman, right, It's definitely something that 66 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: people are afraid of. And I think the roots of 67 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:11,120 Speaker 1: it are are that it's something that's sort of recently discovered, 68 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 1: you know, like our ancestors had no idea about radiation. 69 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 1: It's something that it's a product of modern science. Yeah, 70 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:23,360 Speaker 1: I mean it was sort of discovered not too long ago, right, 71 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:26,120 Speaker 1: maybe a hundred years Yeah, exactly. So around the turn 72 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:28,880 Speaker 1: of the century, like eight late eighteen hundreds, people started 73 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 1: to discover X rays and cathude rays and all sorts 74 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:34,000 Speaker 1: of other kind of rays, and they didn't really know 75 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:36,039 Speaker 1: what it was. It was this new mysterious thing. It 76 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:39,680 Speaker 1: was invisible. It could develop photographs, you could you could 77 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:42,840 Speaker 1: see it on photographic film. Um. Later they discovered it 78 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 1: could kill you, right, Um, it could you could use 79 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,120 Speaker 1: it to like take pictures of the inside of the body. 80 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:52,200 Speaker 1: It was mysterious and weird. Um and so it's kind 81 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:54,360 Speaker 1: of new, it's kind of it's powerful, right, it kind 82 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:58,360 Speaker 1: of violates our everyday intuition. Yeah, exactly. And I think 83 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:01,919 Speaker 1: that's part of the the scariness of it is that 84 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 1: it shows us that the world is different from what 85 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:09,040 Speaker 1: we understood, and that there's this untapped power, this untapped potential, 86 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: which could be terribly dangerous. Right. For me, radiation is 87 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:16,239 Speaker 1: like the classic Frankenstein thing, like shows us that science 88 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 1: has cracked open a whole new world. And it could 89 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:20,720 Speaker 1: go either way. Right, you could help you, or it 90 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: could hurt you if you don't understand what what what 91 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:25,880 Speaker 1: you're doing, it could lead to dangerous side effects. Yeah. 92 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,040 Speaker 1: I feel like it's also cracked open the world of superheroes. 93 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:32,560 Speaker 1: You know, without radiation, you wouldn't have Spider Man, you 94 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:35,719 Speaker 1: wouldn't have the Hulk, you wouldn't have Captain America. Yeah. 95 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:37,680 Speaker 1: But I think that that just reflects that, right. I 96 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: think what you see in comic books are like reflect 97 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:43,480 Speaker 1: what the what the population is thinking about, what they 98 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:46,920 Speaker 1: are afraid of, right, which is why radiation played such 99 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:48,920 Speaker 1: a big role, you know, Spider Man, as you said, 100 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 1: and Bruce banner and all that stuff, and these days 101 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:53,200 Speaker 1: it's more like you see a lot of ai kind 102 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:55,599 Speaker 1: of stuff in comic books, like the villain is some 103 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:58,840 Speaker 1: computer that's taking over the world or something. And so 104 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:02,520 Speaker 1: maybe radiation had its day as the as a scientific villain. 105 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 1: But like you were saying, in society, we still think 106 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:08,279 Speaker 1: of it as as bad, right, Like nobody, um wants 107 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 1: to get any of that radiation, That's right. I think 108 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:13,599 Speaker 1: if you say radiation, people think cancer, or they think 109 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 1: nuclear bombs, or you know, evil scientists and lab coats 110 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:21,919 Speaker 1: cackling maniacally, right, not good things. But we're wondering, do 111 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:26,360 Speaker 1: you think people really understand radiation? Like do they know 112 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: what it is, what it means? And is it all 113 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:31,480 Speaker 1: that bad? All? Right? Where it comes from? Right? How 114 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:33,919 Speaker 1: to make it? How to avoid it? Um? Are you 115 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:36,840 Speaker 1: getting some right now? Yeah? So we were wondering too 116 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:41,160 Speaker 1: people have understanding. The answer is yes, you are being 117 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:45,800 Speaker 1: radiated um right now. You listen to this podcast, right, 118 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:48,480 Speaker 1: and so you're listening, you're getting sonic radiation right now. 119 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:51,479 Speaker 1: But I'm not just from our the brilliance of our 120 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 1: thoughts and words, but you are literally right now bathed 121 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:59,440 Speaker 1: in radiation. Probably unless you're in a lead box somewhere, 122 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 1: in which case you probably have other problems. Then we 123 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:05,840 Speaker 1: have to ask, yeah, what are you doing in that 124 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:08,560 Speaker 1: lead box? What did you to deserve it? Right, it's 125 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,800 Speaker 1: probably your fault. Yeah, Well, as usual, we got curious, 126 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:14,440 Speaker 1: and so Daniel went out into the street as people 127 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 1: random people on the street. What is radiation? That's right? 128 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:20,480 Speaker 1: And here's what people had to say. How would you 129 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 1: define or describe radiation? What is radiation? The one form 130 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:28,320 Speaker 1: of radiation I know is like extray. They emit radiation. 131 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 1: I know there are other forms also, Yeah, there's like 132 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: EUV and other times. All right, cool, thanks very much. 133 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:38,160 Speaker 1: What is radiation? Um, it's some kind of like some 134 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:41,120 Speaker 1: kind of force or like chemical kind of that can 135 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:44,600 Speaker 1: like go through things like an experience, Like there's radiation. 136 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:48,840 Speaker 1: M R. There's radiations and it goes through things. Well, 137 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: radiation is bad, I think if you absorb it. But 138 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:55,880 Speaker 1: isn't radiation just like the splitting off of like the 139 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:58,840 Speaker 1: breaking a part of like particles and atoms, And so 140 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:03,680 Speaker 1: they become like like isn't that kind of like related 141 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:06,080 Speaker 1: to free radicals or something? And what is radiation? A 142 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,960 Speaker 1: little bit about it? About radiation, but specifically UV radiation, 143 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:13,720 Speaker 1: which causes diamondine dimers, which is obviously cause of skin cancer. 144 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:16,400 Speaker 1: So that's a major concern. But then you have the 145 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:21,239 Speaker 1: ozone layer, which can block some harmful radiation is photon. 146 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 1: So nope, well I don't know, like it like gives 147 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:27,360 Speaker 1: off like I don't know, it comes from somewhere, but 148 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:29,800 Speaker 1: like give you cancer and stuff like I don't know. 149 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:31,120 Speaker 1: Do you know what it's made out of? Like what 150 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 1: you know? I don't know what it's made out of? Cool? 151 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:37,080 Speaker 1: What is radiation? I don't know. I think that makes 152 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:42,400 Speaker 1: superheroes or something. I don't know. I don't know. It's bad, 153 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:46,080 Speaker 1: it's bad, Okay, alright, great, alright, So I like the 154 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:48,479 Speaker 1: person who said that it's the thing that makes superheroes. 155 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:53,280 Speaker 1: I was like, yes, something, here's something good about radiation. 156 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:55,920 Speaker 1: It gives these superheroes exactly. I mean, that's what we 157 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:57,199 Speaker 1: should do. We should just like take a bunch of 158 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:00,680 Speaker 1: our soldiers and radiatum and see what happens. Yeah, no, 159 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:06,440 Speaker 1: let's not do that. What could go What could go wrong? Right? Yeah, 160 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 1: what could go wrong? But a lot of people just 161 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:11,719 Speaker 1: kind of immediately went with that it's something bad. It's 162 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 1: not good, definitely bad. Right, radiation, Big Radiations lobbying firm 163 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:18,800 Speaker 1: has a lot of work to do on changing the 164 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,959 Speaker 1: public perception of radiation. Oh man, I wouldn't want that job. 165 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:26,320 Speaker 1: I work for Big Radiation. You know. What they need 166 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:29,040 Speaker 1: to do is come up with like a cute anthropomorphic 167 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:32,360 Speaker 1: character for radiation and have, you know, smile and bounce 168 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:34,040 Speaker 1: around and the scream with a little Diddy playing in 169 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:39,280 Speaker 1: the background, like a cute little cancer seal or something exactly, 170 00:09:38,679 --> 00:09:42,280 Speaker 1: a cute little wave or a cute little particle. Maybe Hi, 171 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:45,280 Speaker 1: I'm a proton. I'm here to help to give you 172 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:49,240 Speaker 1: cancer treatments, right, m I don't know. But but a 173 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:50,680 Speaker 1: lot of people just kind of had the idea that 174 00:09:50,679 --> 00:09:53,360 Speaker 1: it's some sort of energy, some something that moves the 175 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:57,520 Speaker 1: propagates and goes through things. Right, that's yeah, yeah, yeah. 176 00:09:57,559 --> 00:09:58,839 Speaker 1: A lot of people were on the right track. A 177 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:00,240 Speaker 1: lot of people are on the right track. Faith thought 178 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:02,200 Speaker 1: it was bad. Some people didn't really know. So people 179 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 1: listed an example of radiation, right, which is good, totally solid. 180 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:10,080 Speaker 1: I'd give them a solid it be on that answer. Um. 181 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:13,280 Speaker 1: And one of the guys whom I asked is actually 182 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 1: a physics professor in my department costed on the street 183 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:19,679 Speaker 1: to ask him this question, and I gave a pretty 184 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:21,960 Speaker 1: good answer on the spot. So, um, I think we 185 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:25,440 Speaker 1: can we can break it down for people. What is radiation? Yeah, 186 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:32,439 Speaker 1: break it down from Dana, what is radiation? Radiation most 187 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:35,120 Speaker 1: generally can either be a particle or wave, but it's 188 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:39,240 Speaker 1: basically just energy moving through space, right, So it can 189 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:42,840 Speaker 1: be like photons, right, Like light is radiation. You know, 190 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:46,720 Speaker 1: all kinds of light, from radio waves to visible light, 191 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:49,560 Speaker 1: to X rays, to ultra violet light, to gamma rays 192 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:51,760 Speaker 1: that we talked about in a previous podcast, those are 193 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:55,720 Speaker 1: all examples of radiation. So basically light, you're saying. But 194 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:59,400 Speaker 1: like we covered in a previous podcast, light of different 195 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:03,200 Speaker 1: frequency have different names, but it's basically basically all this light. 196 00:11:03,559 --> 00:11:06,480 Speaker 1: It's all. Yeah, there's lots of different kinds of light, right, 197 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 1: which which comes because they have different they wiggle at 198 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:11,800 Speaker 1: different speeds, right, wiggle really really fast, the gamma rays 199 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:14,120 Speaker 1: that wiggle really really slow, their radio waves that wiggle 200 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:17,720 Speaker 1: in the middle of their visible light, and all light 201 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:20,640 Speaker 1: is radiation because it's energy moving through space, right, Like 202 00:11:20,679 --> 00:11:23,040 Speaker 1: when the sun makes light and shines it on the earth. 203 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 1: It's irradiating the earth. So next time you go out 204 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:30,160 Speaker 1: and like enjoy the sun's warmth, you are like absorbing 205 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:33,920 Speaker 1: radiation from the sun. Right, And so every photon you absorb, 206 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:37,160 Speaker 1: every photon that hits your eye technically is radiation, but 207 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 1: it's not a particular frequency range where it's not a 208 00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:43,080 Speaker 1: particular type of light. Like all light is considered radiation, 209 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:45,480 Speaker 1: Like the the light bulb in here in my house, 210 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:48,720 Speaker 1: in my room, that that that is emitting radiation that 211 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:51,480 Speaker 1: I'm receiving and I'm using it to see that's right. 212 00:11:51,559 --> 00:11:53,679 Speaker 1: And here again we run into the same problem that 213 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:55,679 Speaker 1: we run into like all the time in this podcast, 214 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:59,960 Speaker 1: where we have a name that people use in language, radiation, 215 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:02,839 Speaker 1: and then we have the physics term, right, which is 216 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:07,240 Speaker 1: a technical definition, so the technical definition, and like in science, 217 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:11,040 Speaker 1: all light is radiation. Practically, when we you know, colloquially, 218 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:14,400 Speaker 1: when we talk about radiation, what we mean is damaging radiation, 219 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:19,360 Speaker 1: radiation that can hurt you, right, But technically light is radiation, right, 220 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,120 Speaker 1: all light, visible lights from the life of the photons 221 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:24,880 Speaker 1: in your room is also radiation. That's probably not what 222 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:28,400 Speaker 1: people mean when they say radiation, but technically it's true. 223 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:30,400 Speaker 1: And you know there are other things that are also radiation, 224 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:34,800 Speaker 1: like sound. Sound waves is radiation. It's acoustic radiation. Right. 225 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:38,480 Speaker 1: So I'm talking to my microphone, I'm irradiating this microphone, 226 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:41,320 Speaker 1: and then I'm irradiating your ears and you listener are 227 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 1: being irradiated by our sonic vibrations right now. Wow. Okay, 228 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: so that you're saying to physics technical definition, it's really 229 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:52,360 Speaker 1: just anything that moves and propagates through space. Yeah, anything 230 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:55,320 Speaker 1: that transfers energy. It can be particles, it can be waves. 231 00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:58,600 Speaker 1: Some things are particles slash waves slash weird quantum mechanical things. 232 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:01,720 Speaker 1: We don't really understand. All that stuff is radiation. So 233 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:06,000 Speaker 1: that includes you know, protons and electrons and neutrons and 234 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:10,000 Speaker 1: alpha particles which are just helium nuclei. It even includes 235 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:13,800 Speaker 1: things like gravitational radiation, right, like gravitational waves that were 236 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:17,320 Speaker 1: detected recently by Ligo, that big interfrometer that saw the 237 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,560 Speaker 1: ripples in space and time when black holes collided. That's 238 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 1: radiation also. So basically you're saying that anything that moves 239 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:27,320 Speaker 1: is radiation. It doesn't matter if it has energy, if 240 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:32,400 Speaker 1: he has no mass, anything that moves through space is radiation. Like, yeah, 241 00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:35,960 Speaker 1: me walking down the hall, I'm radiating down the hall. 242 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:40,600 Speaker 1: You know, I never thought of that, but yeah, you 243 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:44,880 Speaker 1: are radiation, that's true. I am a peper here, Danny. 244 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:49,080 Speaker 1: So radiation can't be all bad, right because it includes 245 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:52,640 Speaker 1: people nice people like you. So there you go, there 246 00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:56,680 Speaker 1: you go, case closed, case closed. Radiation is not all bad. Um. Yeah. 247 00:13:56,720 --> 00:13:59,760 Speaker 1: But so from a technical point of view, radiation is everywhere. 248 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:02,880 Speaker 1: It is. It's all around us. Um. And you know 249 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:06,080 Speaker 1: sound is radiation, light is radiation, all this kind of stuff. Um. 250 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:08,800 Speaker 1: One person said, you know radiation is a chemical or 251 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:11,880 Speaker 1: it's a force, right, It's not. It's not really a 252 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:16,439 Speaker 1: chemical or force. Um. People do get treatment for cancer 253 00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 1: that's called chemotherapy, and some people think that involves radiation. 254 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 1: It doesn't involves chemicals, which is it's called chemotherapy. Um. 255 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:26,120 Speaker 1: So radiation is not like a chemical you inject in 256 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:29,480 Speaker 1: your body. It's not a force. It's not like gravity 257 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:33,240 Speaker 1: or the electromagnetism or whatever. But though some of the 258 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:37,240 Speaker 1: particles that transmit those forces, like photons, are radiation, so 259 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:39,600 Speaker 1: it's not like its own force or its own chemical. 260 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:42,960 Speaker 1: So there are things that are not radiation. It's not 261 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:46,240 Speaker 1: everything not radiation. Yeah, there are things that are not radiation. Yeah. 262 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:48,440 Speaker 1: And and actually we live in a time in the 263 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:53,360 Speaker 1: universe when there isn't very much radiation. What. Yeah, if 264 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:55,240 Speaker 1: you look at the history of the universe, like the 265 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:59,440 Speaker 1: really long scale history of the universe, the very early universe, 266 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:02,920 Speaker 1: there was a huge amount of radiation. Like if you say, 267 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 1: take all the energy in the universe, right, what is 268 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:08,640 Speaker 1: what's in the universe that has energy? Well, there's matter, right, 269 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:12,720 Speaker 1: matter has energy, there's radiation, radiation has energy, right, and 270 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:16,400 Speaker 1: there's things like dark energy, mysterious forces that are expanding 271 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:19,640 Speaker 1: the universe we don't understand. Well, the interesting thing is 272 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:22,600 Speaker 1: that through the history of the universe, different slices of 273 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:26,400 Speaker 1: that pie have been dominant. So in the very early universe, 274 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:28,440 Speaker 1: most of the energy in the universe was in a 275 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:32,440 Speaker 1: radiation like big bang, huge explosion. Mostly it's just a 276 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:37,480 Speaker 1: bunch of photons. Oh, I see. But then something changed, yeah, exactly, 277 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:41,040 Speaker 1: some of that energy to transformed into something else has right, 278 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:43,480 Speaker 1: A lot of that energy is transformed into matter, right, 279 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:46,480 Speaker 1: And the universe spread out and cooled, right, and a 280 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:49,080 Speaker 1: lot of those photons were absorbed, right, they were sucked 281 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 1: up by matter um which is no longer ionized like 282 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:55,640 Speaker 1: formed atoms, and those atoms could absorb photons. So for 283 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:58,160 Speaker 1: in the very first period of the universe, or like 284 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:01,200 Speaker 1: the first um sixty years or so, the universe was 285 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:04,320 Speaker 1: radiation dominated. Most of the energy in the universe is radiation. 286 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:08,120 Speaker 1: Then for billions of years it was matter dominated, like 287 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:10,000 Speaker 1: most of the energy and the universe was stored in 288 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:13,280 Speaker 1: matter um, and radiation was a smaller piece of the pie. 289 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:16,120 Speaker 1: And then for the last five billion years or so, 290 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:20,400 Speaker 1: those got outstripped by dark energy, this new mysterious thing 291 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:24,360 Speaker 1: which is expanding the universe and now eats seventy of 292 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:26,840 Speaker 1: the whole pie, the energy budge of the universe. Now 293 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:30,240 Speaker 1: we live in a dark energy dominated universe. Wow, so 294 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:33,040 Speaker 1: weird to think the universe is changing, you know, like 295 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:36,680 Speaker 1: it's it's a composition, what it's made out of is 296 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:39,200 Speaker 1: not constant. He sounds like somebody talking about your niece 297 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:41,440 Speaker 1: or nephew. You're like, you got so big, I can't 298 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:45,320 Speaker 1: believe you, Like, whoa, how did you get so so harry? 299 00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 1: What exactly used to be all radiation? And now you 300 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:53,800 Speaker 1: got these energy Now you're this emailed team I don't 301 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:57,520 Speaker 1: get it. Yeah, the universe is evolving and we don't know, 302 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:00,240 Speaker 1: like what's the next epoch of the universe, Right, Is 303 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:02,520 Speaker 1: dark energy going to go away? Is something else going 304 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:05,720 Speaker 1: to turn on and swamp dark energy? Radiation is gonna 305 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:08,199 Speaker 1: come roaring back? Or you know who knows? Right? But 306 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:09,800 Speaker 1: I like, I like sort of how you said that. 307 00:17:10,080 --> 00:17:13,000 Speaker 1: There's sort of the official physics definition of radiation, and 308 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:17,240 Speaker 1: then there's the kind of cultural societal definition of radiation yea, 309 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:22,760 Speaker 1: which is kind of specifically which specifically means something that 310 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 1: energy that's somehow causes damage or effects your bodily functions 311 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:34,960 Speaker 1: or your your cellular the things in your body. Yeah, exactly, 312 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:37,520 Speaker 1: you can think of damaging radiation. It's sort of like 313 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:41,960 Speaker 1: really fast, super tiny little bullets. Each one can cause 314 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:44,520 Speaker 1: a tiny little bit of damage. And I think that's 315 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:46,159 Speaker 1: the kind of radiation people are most interested in. So 316 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:48,840 Speaker 1: let's focus on that for a minute, right. And there's 317 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,719 Speaker 1: kind of there's different kinds of radiation that can damage you, right. 318 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:55,119 Speaker 1: So for example, gamma rays, these are just high energy photons, 319 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: but they have enough energy that they can penetrate through 320 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:01,600 Speaker 1: your skin and they can eye eyes. Ionizing means that 321 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:04,879 Speaker 1: it deposits enough energy on the electron in an atom 322 00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:08,359 Speaker 1: that the electron it like escapes, right, It's like gets 323 00:18:08,520 --> 00:18:10,840 Speaker 1: escape velocity, and so it can fly off and the 324 00:18:11,359 --> 00:18:14,240 Speaker 1: atom then becomes an ion. And that's bad. It changes 325 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:17,160 Speaker 1: the chemistry that's happening inside your body, and it can 326 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:20,280 Speaker 1: change your DNA and can cause mutations and all sorts 327 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:23,240 Speaker 1: of stuff. But wait, what about regular light, like from 328 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:26,160 Speaker 1: a light buelb. Why isn't that Why doesn't that one 329 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:29,080 Speaker 1: cause any damage? Because it's absorbed by your skin. It 330 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:32,040 Speaker 1: doesn't have enough energy to penetrate your skin. The higher 331 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:34,960 Speaker 1: the frequency, the higher the energy. So gamma rays have 332 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:39,439 Speaker 1: more energy than normal visible light. Normal visible light, you know, 333 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:42,000 Speaker 1: stopped by your skin. That's why your skin, that's why 334 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:44,520 Speaker 1: your body is not transparent, right because light can't pass 335 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:46,920 Speaker 1: through it. That's why you're not invisible. If light could 336 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:49,480 Speaker 1: pass through you, you would be invisible that you know of. 337 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:54,959 Speaker 1: But what do I mean that doesn't emit enough energy 338 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:58,040 Speaker 1: like it it gets to the cells in my skin 339 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:02,800 Speaker 1: and it doesn't another energy to puncture through to wiggle around. 340 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:05,840 Speaker 1: What does that mean? Yeah, it's absorbed by the energy 341 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:08,399 Speaker 1: by the very outer layer of your skin, which is 342 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:11,400 Speaker 1: basically dead cells, right, and so it doesn't penetrate into 343 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:16,840 Speaker 1: anything important, whereas ultra violet light and gamma rays, those 344 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:18,399 Speaker 1: are the things that give you cancer and the reason 345 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:21,080 Speaker 1: they give you cancers because they go deeper into your skin. 346 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:23,960 Speaker 1: And so the way to protect yourself is like be 347 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:27,000 Speaker 1: inside because then the house absorbs the energy of the 348 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:30,600 Speaker 1: gamma rays or the UV light or wear sunscreen, right, 349 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:32,520 Speaker 1: because that has things in it that are good at 350 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:37,320 Speaker 1: absorbing um those kind of that frequency photon. So it's 351 00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:39,640 Speaker 1: not it's not a it's is it an energy thing 352 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 1: or like a frequency thing? You know, Like we had 353 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:44,919 Speaker 1: an episode about why is the sky blue and you 354 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:49,000 Speaker 1: said that the light it's because blue light is at 355 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:52,040 Speaker 1: the right sort of wavelength of that of the size 356 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:55,719 Speaker 1: of the molecules in the atmosphere, Is it something like 357 00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:57,760 Speaker 1: that or is it just just energy, Just it just 358 00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:00,800 Speaker 1: barrels through. It's just energy. Yeah, Just think of the 359 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:05,159 Speaker 1: body is like a bag of water, right, and it 360 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:08,159 Speaker 1: eventually gets slowed down and absorbed, and it's just a 361 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:10,520 Speaker 1: question of how deep into the body it gets. And 362 00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:12,920 Speaker 1: so if it if it stops at the outermost layer 363 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:15,160 Speaker 1: where it's all just dead skin, then it doesn't really 364 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:17,560 Speaker 1: do any damage. Or you know, it gets stopped by 365 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:21,240 Speaker 1: your clothing, right, like visible like gets stopped by your clothing. Um, 366 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:22,800 Speaker 1: but if it gets into that bag of water and 367 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:25,600 Speaker 1: penetrates and you know, can ionize something important, then yet 368 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:27,840 Speaker 1: it can cause cancer. Well, it's interesting to me that 369 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:31,320 Speaker 1: it's not just like like gamma rays and X rays. 370 00:20:31,359 --> 00:20:36,600 Speaker 1: It's also like radiation harmful. Radiation can be also like protons, right, 371 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:39,880 Speaker 1: and which is what I'm made out of and you're 372 00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:41,719 Speaker 1: made out of. Like the things we're made out of 373 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:44,879 Speaker 1: can also be radioactive and and not good for you, 374 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:47,359 Speaker 1: that's right. And so like as we said before, like 375 00:20:47,359 --> 00:20:49,080 Speaker 1: a proton can be good or bad. It can be 376 00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:52,159 Speaker 1: part of a tasty snack, or it can come bringing cancer. 377 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:55,720 Speaker 1: And the only difference is that is whether it has energy. 378 00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:58,080 Speaker 1: Like if I shoot a proton at you, and I 379 00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:00,119 Speaker 1: could deposit a lot of energy in a part of 380 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:02,199 Speaker 1: your body, that's bad. Right, Think of a proton, it's 381 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:04,240 Speaker 1: like a tiny bullet. I mean, I could hand you 382 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:05,760 Speaker 1: a bullet. It's not going to kill you, right. A 383 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:08,159 Speaker 1: bullet by itself doesn't kill you. If I shoot a 384 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:11,000 Speaker 1: bullet at you really really fast, right, then it's gonna 385 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:13,280 Speaker 1: hurt you. Right, it's gonna deposit all of its energy 386 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:15,399 Speaker 1: in your body. It's gonna tear a hole in you. 387 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:19,600 Speaker 1: So it's the energy that that particle has that's the problem, right, 388 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:22,480 Speaker 1: not the particle itself. You're saying, bullets don't kill people. 389 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:31,280 Speaker 1: It's the protons. Kinetic energy kills people. Bullets people don't 390 00:21:31,359 --> 00:21:37,080 Speaker 1: kill people. Physics stuff. Technically that's true. Oh man, oh man, 391 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:39,680 Speaker 1: I'm gonna be in trouble with the physics community after 392 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:46,879 Speaker 1: that comes out. You can deposit kinetic energy on somebody 393 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 1: with lots of things, right. You could use a brick, 394 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:50,720 Speaker 1: you can use a bullet, you can use a rock like, 395 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:53,000 Speaker 1: you could even use a banana. I guess I don't know. 396 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:56,280 Speaker 1: But the thing that kills somebody is the kinetic energy transfer. Right, 397 00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:58,600 Speaker 1: you hit somebody with a car, right, doesn't have to 398 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:00,960 Speaker 1: be a small thing. You deposit a lot of kinetic 399 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:03,480 Speaker 1: energy on somebody, you're going to hurt them. Now, proton 400 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:06,400 Speaker 1: is basically just a super tiny bullet. And so if 401 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:09,160 Speaker 1: a uranium atom shoots out a proton a really high 402 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:11,520 Speaker 1: speed and it hits you, then you know it doesn't 403 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:13,880 Speaker 1: cause you make you bleed, but it can knock out 404 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:16,560 Speaker 1: some atoms and do some damage internally, which screws up 405 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:19,040 Speaker 1: the chemistry, and then it can give you cancer. Right, 406 00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:22,119 Speaker 1: And I think specifically the problem is when it hits 407 00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:24,919 Speaker 1: like a DNA molecule inside of you, that's when the 408 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:28,640 Speaker 1: mutations happen. That's what really kills the cells. Right, that's right. 409 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 1: And again though it's not always bad. Right if one 410 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 1: of your you know, sperm or eggs gets hit by 411 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:37,600 Speaker 1: a proton and it changes the DNA that you're passing 412 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:39,960 Speaker 1: on to your kids, maybe that's what makes your kid 413 00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:42,960 Speaker 1: like the next Michael Phelps or Albert Einstein. Right, mutations 414 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:46,399 Speaker 1: can be good. It's a critical part of evolution that 415 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:50,080 Speaker 1: we have mutations to explore the evolutionary space. Radiation is 416 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:53,199 Speaker 1: an important part of how evolution works. So you know, 417 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:55,840 Speaker 1: a lot of times it's bad, but also sometimes it's good. 418 00:22:56,119 --> 00:22:58,639 Speaker 1: And I think we touched it. We talked about this 419 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:00,720 Speaker 1: a little bit in a previous cast, which is that 420 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,600 Speaker 1: it's kind of a sweet spot, right, Like, if if 421 00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:06,000 Speaker 1: our planet had been in an area of the galaxy 422 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:08,800 Speaker 1: where there was a ton of radiation, then you probably 423 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:12,520 Speaker 1: couldn't develop living things. But at the same time, you 424 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:15,679 Speaker 1: need a little bit of radiation to kind of stimulate 425 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:19,000 Speaker 1: all that evolution and mutation to that, to that animals 426 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:21,840 Speaker 1: and species can evolve. Yeah, it's I think it's a 427 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:25,440 Speaker 1: difficult thing to study, right. It would be fantastically interesting 428 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:27,840 Speaker 1: to get to like simulate the Earth with more or 429 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:31,120 Speaker 1: less radiation and say, like would life evolve more rapidly 430 00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:34,119 Speaker 1: with more radiation because things would mutate faster or everything 431 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:36,480 Speaker 1: you just get cancer and die off more quickly. Um. 432 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:39,200 Speaker 1: I think it's a huge complex question because it's so 433 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:42,359 Speaker 1: interconnected with you know, ecosystems and how things live and 434 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:44,480 Speaker 1: die and eat each other. So I think it's really 435 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:50,400 Speaker 1: complex thing that I think physicists are attempted to simplifying superheroes. Um. 436 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:52,960 Speaker 1: But you touched on something interesting, which is that you 437 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:55,840 Speaker 1: know where the radiation comes from, right, Like, Um, A 438 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:58,760 Speaker 1: lot of the radiation that we worry about comes from space. 439 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:01,639 Speaker 1: It comes from our son. Our sun is a huge, huge, 440 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:05,000 Speaker 1: um factory of radiation. I mean, some of that radiation 441 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:07,040 Speaker 1: is good, like the light that you soak up when 442 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:09,960 Speaker 1: you're enjoing a nice day here in southern California, or 443 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:13,000 Speaker 1: the protons that make up the solar wind right that 444 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:15,639 Speaker 1: that that are really dangerous for astronauts. So what's more 445 00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:19,639 Speaker 1: dangerous to be next to like a uranium stone or 446 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:22,720 Speaker 1: mine or to be out in space? Floating around out 447 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:25,159 Speaker 1: in space is really dangerous. Yeah, there's a huge amount 448 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:27,600 Speaker 1: of radiation out there, and the reason that we are 449 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:30,080 Speaker 1: protected from that radiation is because of our atmosphere. Our 450 00:24:30,119 --> 00:24:33,399 Speaker 1: atmosphere absorbs most of it, like the protons and the 451 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:35,760 Speaker 1: gamma rays and the UVY light, most of that is 452 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:38,359 Speaker 1: absorbed by either the ozone or other parts of our 453 00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:41,280 Speaker 1: atmosphere and protects it. It's like a huge shield. But 454 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:43,199 Speaker 1: of course it doesn't protect you from all of it. Right, 455 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:45,040 Speaker 1: A lot of uvy light makes it to the surface 456 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:48,600 Speaker 1: and can give you a sunburn and maybe even skin cancer. Right, 457 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:51,159 Speaker 1: But definitely out in space. Out in space is a 458 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:53,960 Speaker 1: very high radiation environment. All right, let's get into a 459 00:24:54,000 --> 00:25:09,399 Speaker 1: bit more. But first let's take a quick break. All Right, 460 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:12,800 Speaker 1: we're talking about radiation, and we know that it's um 461 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:16,600 Speaker 1: It's basically anything that moves around with energy kind of right, Like, 462 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:19,159 Speaker 1: it can be protons, or it can be electrons, or 463 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:22,119 Speaker 1: it could just be light that hits you and imparts 464 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:24,679 Speaker 1: energy on you. That's right, and a lot of it 465 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:27,480 Speaker 1: comes from space. We're saying the atmosphere protects us, but 466 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:30,159 Speaker 1: you know, the atmosphere is not super thick, and the 467 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:32,840 Speaker 1: higher up you go in the atmosphere, the less atmosphere 468 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:35,400 Speaker 1: you have to protect yourself, which is why every time 469 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:38,080 Speaker 1: you take, for example, of flight across the country or 470 00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:40,920 Speaker 1: around the world, you're actually getting a pretty serious dose 471 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:44,280 Speaker 1: of radiation. Really so that the plane doesn't protect you 472 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:46,399 Speaker 1: like the shell of the plane. No, the shell the 473 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:48,960 Speaker 1: plane is not enough to stop protons and really high 474 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:52,480 Speaker 1: energy photons from penetrating. You need to be like really 475 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:55,120 Speaker 1: thick lead. And remember airplanes are designed to be light 476 00:25:55,359 --> 00:25:57,320 Speaker 1: so that they can fly right and be fuel efficient. 477 00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:01,280 Speaker 1: And so for example, this is why UM flight attendants 478 00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:03,520 Speaker 1: and pilots are limited in how many flights they can 479 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:06,280 Speaker 1: take because otherwise they all get cancer. Wow, because of 480 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:11,360 Speaker 1: the radiation. Radiation. Yeah, and you know those folks are 481 00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:14,080 Speaker 1: exposed to more radiation than people who work at like 482 00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:18,160 Speaker 1: nuclear power plants. Really. Yeah, no, it's a serious amount. 483 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:20,320 Speaker 1: And I actually know this because you know, I work 484 00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:23,119 Speaker 1: on this app that detects particles using your phone, and 485 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:24,840 Speaker 1: some of the best data we get is when we 486 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:27,880 Speaker 1: fly around the world, like we fly to Discern all 487 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:29,600 Speaker 1: the time in Switzerland and back, and we take these 488 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:31,919 Speaker 1: long flights, we run the app. You don't put it 489 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:34,200 Speaker 1: on airplane mode like you're supposed to know. We put 490 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:36,159 Speaker 1: it on airplane mode. But then we turn on our 491 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:38,760 Speaker 1: app and we can see those particles like we can 492 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:41,480 Speaker 1: see them zooming through the through the device. So it's 493 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:44,520 Speaker 1: it's definitely a lot of radiation up there. Um, you have, 494 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:46,720 Speaker 1: do you put on some block whenever you get on 495 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:50,080 Speaker 1: an airplane. Sun block won't help you from protons man 496 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:53,760 Speaker 1: or from Gama raise. No, protect you from the UV light, 497 00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:57,040 Speaker 1: but not from Gamma raise and not from protons. And 498 00:26:57,040 --> 00:26:59,159 Speaker 1: there's a lot of those up there. Um. So you know, 499 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:00,879 Speaker 1: if you're the kind of person who's like, you know, 500 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:03,200 Speaker 1: not sure you want to take a dental X ray 501 00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:05,600 Speaker 1: because of the radiation, but you're happy to take a 502 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:07,800 Speaker 1: flight to Thailand. Remember there's a lot of radiation on 503 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:11,280 Speaker 1: those flights. Wow. Does that mean that people who fly 504 00:27:11,359 --> 00:27:15,600 Speaker 1: a lot age faster, possibly they're definitely an increased risk 505 00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:20,760 Speaker 1: for cancer? Yeah? Absolutely, yeah, exactly. I think that. I 506 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:22,600 Speaker 1: think that's something a lot of people don't realize that 507 00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:25,760 Speaker 1: there's radiation sources in our everyday lives. Right, You don't 508 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:29,080 Speaker 1: just have to avoid nuclear plant meltdowns or nuclear weapons 509 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:31,560 Speaker 1: or evil scientists like their sources of radiation in our 510 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:34,520 Speaker 1: everyday lives. Not just an airplane though, also a lot 511 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:37,639 Speaker 1: of things that we eat have radiation. Yeah. I heard 512 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:40,080 Speaker 1: um something near and dear to me and that our 513 00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:44,680 Speaker 1: listeners are probably tired of hearing about, which is the bananas. 514 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:48,840 Speaker 1: Bananas are very radioactive. Yeah, I would say very radioactive, 515 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:50,560 Speaker 1: but they are. They have potassium in them, and the 516 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:53,920 Speaker 1: potassium is of a kind that radiates it it decays 517 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:58,040 Speaker 1: and it shoots off radiation, and so of a kind 518 00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:02,359 Speaker 1: is it. So there's different kinds of potassium. Yeah, there's 519 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:05,320 Speaker 1: more and less stable versions of potassium. You know. Potassium 520 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:07,800 Speaker 1: has isotopes, just like every other element, which means you 521 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:10,200 Speaker 1: can have like more or less neutrons, and the exact 522 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:13,560 Speaker 1: configuration of protons and neutrons in the nucleus determines how 523 00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:16,479 Speaker 1: stable something is and whether or not decays by shooting 524 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:20,679 Speaker 1: off a proton or a neutron. Um And so somehow bananas, 525 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:23,920 Speaker 1: when banana plants make bananas, they somehow gather a lot 526 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:27,280 Speaker 1: of this kind of radioactive potassium. Yeah, and you know, 527 00:28:27,359 --> 00:28:29,600 Speaker 1: I don't want to get a lot of angry emails 528 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:33,080 Speaker 1: from big Banana supporters, so let's be specific about it. 529 00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:37,080 Speaker 1: On the radiations that he called the big banana of 530 00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 1: Big Banana, I think I've seen that movie, actually Big Banana. 531 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:45,120 Speaker 1: But the radiation exposure from consuming a banana is approximately 532 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:48,560 Speaker 1: one percent of the average daily exposure to radiation. So 533 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:51,240 Speaker 1: you're getting radiation from the sun and just from you know, 534 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:54,400 Speaker 1: natural radioactive elements in the earth and stuff, and so 535 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:57,760 Speaker 1: eating banana does increase your amount of radiation, but really 536 00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:00,200 Speaker 1: by a tiny amount. So go out there and eat 537 00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:02,680 Speaker 1: a hundred bananas and don't worry about it. But you 538 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:05,160 Speaker 1: told me something cool earlier, which is that a truckload 539 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:07,760 Speaker 1: of bananas, like if I have a truck full of bananas, 540 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:11,480 Speaker 1: will actually cause a false alarm when going through a 541 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:15,360 Speaker 1: radiation detector. Yeah. They have these things at ports because 542 00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:17,160 Speaker 1: they want to see if like terrorists are gonna try 543 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:20,000 Speaker 1: to smuggle in uranium to make a dirty bomb or something. 544 00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:22,800 Speaker 1: So they have these scanners that look for radiation inside 545 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:25,120 Speaker 1: shipping containers. If you have like a truckload or a 546 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:27,320 Speaker 1: shipping container full of bananas, it'll set one of those 547 00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:30,600 Speaker 1: things off. Like, this is real, people, Banana really are radioactive. 548 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:33,200 Speaker 1: So if the agent is like, are you carrying a 549 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:35,360 Speaker 1: dirty bomb with you? You can be just like, nope, 550 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:39,360 Speaker 1: just the banana bomb. That sounds pretty dirty to me too. 551 00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:44,760 Speaker 1: It's slippery but not dirty, that's right. And um, and 552 00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:46,760 Speaker 1: there are other natural sources of radiation, you know, just 553 00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:49,360 Speaker 1: in the earth and the rocks around us, there are 554 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:52,800 Speaker 1: radioactive elements, not in huge quantities, but you do get 555 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:57,080 Speaker 1: some radiation from the trace amounts of uranium, for example. UM, 556 00:29:57,120 --> 00:29:59,840 Speaker 1: in the earth crust, you do get radiation from just 557 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:03,760 Speaker 1: radioactive elements that are decaying slowly over time. But none 558 00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:06,040 Speaker 1: of them so now. But none of these is dangerous, right, 559 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:10,440 Speaker 1: Like potatoes, kidney, beans, sunflower seeds, nuts, they all radiate 560 00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:14,200 Speaker 1: kind of like bananas, but it's you know, maybe not 561 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:16,080 Speaker 1: that bad for you. That's right. You should not change 562 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:17,840 Speaker 1: your diet based on this podcast. I mean that's a 563 00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:20,920 Speaker 1: general rules and we have no expertise in nutrition or 564 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:24,520 Speaker 1: dietary science. Um, but specifically, you should not be worried 565 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:28,840 Speaker 1: about the radiation from food, right. Um. Also, your body 566 00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:31,080 Speaker 1: is pretty good at regulating this stuff, and so like 567 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:33,480 Speaker 1: you'll take in that radioactive potassium and then you'll pass 568 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:36,320 Speaker 1: out some more. So your body maintains like a steady 569 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:40,160 Speaker 1: state amount of these chemicals because it needs some. Right, 570 00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:43,480 Speaker 1: So you're saying I can keep eating French fries as 571 00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:46,640 Speaker 1: much as I'm saying French fries won't give you cancer 572 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:49,280 Speaker 1: due to the radiation. That's all I'm gonna say. No, 573 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:52,720 Speaker 1: don't kill you. They'll kill you in other ways. What 574 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:56,240 Speaker 1: you're saying, that's right, You could definitely think of creative 575 00:30:56,240 --> 00:30:58,520 Speaker 1: ways to die from French fries that are not getting cancer. 576 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:01,040 Speaker 1: All right. Well, let's get into this idea of whether 577 00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:04,440 Speaker 1: radiation is good for you or bad for you. But 578 00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:19,080 Speaker 1: for us, let's take a quick break al right, Ianne, 579 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:22,320 Speaker 1: break it down for us? Is radiation good for us 580 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:26,480 Speaker 1: or bad? Frisk? Well, you know I think both, right, Um? 581 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:29,720 Speaker 1: The classic cancer is yes and no. So radiation is 582 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:31,600 Speaker 1: good for you in some ways and it's bad for 583 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:33,960 Speaker 1: you in other ways. You know. Let's remember what radiation 584 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,360 Speaker 1: can do, right. Radiation can break the bonds in your atoms. 585 00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:40,520 Speaker 1: You can ionize, right, Um, if it has enough energy, 586 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:43,000 Speaker 1: and if it has less energy, right, then it can 587 00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:45,360 Speaker 1: just sort of deposit something or just have to ionize 588 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:48,800 Speaker 1: the electron to deposit some energy um in your system. 589 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:50,920 Speaker 1: And this can be good or it can be bad. 590 00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:53,320 Speaker 1: Like you know, what's an example of how radiation can 591 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:57,520 Speaker 1: be good, well at particle accelerators. We use the accelerators 592 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:00,920 Speaker 1: sometimes to treat people who have cancer because you can 593 00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:04,040 Speaker 1: use it like um, you can you can shoot protons 594 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:06,959 Speaker 1: at people and shoot it just exactly at their cancer 595 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:10,800 Speaker 1: and basically just like target the cancer itself. Right, It's 596 00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:13,840 Speaker 1: called proton therapy, and you can try to kill just 597 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:16,520 Speaker 1: the tumor and that works. Like you can save lives 598 00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:20,840 Speaker 1: by shooting people with radiation. It's like you purposely radiate 599 00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:24,640 Speaker 1: yourself because you're trying to kill something inside of you. Yeah, 600 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:26,720 Speaker 1: I mean that's always the game with cancer, right. Cancer 601 00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:28,600 Speaker 1: is part of you, and if you want to kill it, 602 00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:31,480 Speaker 1: you have to like be willing to hurt it more 603 00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:33,960 Speaker 1: than it hurts than it hurts you. Right, It's a 604 00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:36,760 Speaker 1: it's a like a medical game of chicken um uh 605 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:39,440 Speaker 1: and uh. In one way to do that, it's so yeah, 606 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:42,760 Speaker 1: shoot these tiny little proton bullets inside you. And there's 607 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:44,880 Speaker 1: a lot of physics that goes into that, like how 608 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:47,960 Speaker 1: how much radiation do you need and how do you 609 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:50,360 Speaker 1: angle it so that it lands mostly in the tumor 610 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:53,440 Speaker 1: and doesn't hurt the surrounding tissue. Um, there's a whole 611 00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:55,479 Speaker 1: field of medical physics and people who are really real 612 00:32:55,560 --> 00:32:57,600 Speaker 1: experts at that. Yeah, but I think it it's sort 613 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:00,719 Speaker 1: of targets cancer selves because of the fat that cancer 614 00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:03,720 Speaker 1: cells are multiplying all the time, right, Like, just the 615 00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:07,800 Speaker 1: idea that they're multiplying more than your regular cells kind 616 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:12,320 Speaker 1: of makes them more vulnerable to things like protons and 617 00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:15,720 Speaker 1: getting their DNA changed. I don't know, maybe, Um, I 618 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:18,040 Speaker 1: think from the physics point of view, we just treat 619 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:20,880 Speaker 1: them as bags of water. Like seriously, we treat everything. 620 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:23,400 Speaker 1: Every human, every flesh is just like bags of water 621 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:25,680 Speaker 1: to a physicist, and we think about how much energy 622 00:33:25,720 --> 00:33:29,800 Speaker 1: we deposit, and I think we just try to kill it. Um. Right, Well, 623 00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:33,120 Speaker 1: it can also save your life if you dial nine 624 00:33:33,120 --> 00:33:35,280 Speaker 1: one one on your cell phone, right, if there's an emergency, 625 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:39,080 Speaker 1: because radiation is basically how cell phones work. That's right, 626 00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:44,200 Speaker 1: All communication relies on radiation, right, You're using electromagnetic radiation 627 00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:47,920 Speaker 1: to communicate wirelessly all the time. Um, you're listening to 628 00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:51,959 Speaker 1: this podcast thanks to radiation, right, and so without radiation 629 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:55,440 Speaker 1: we would have any sort of wireless communication. Um, so yes, 630 00:33:55,520 --> 00:33:58,960 Speaker 1: thank you radiation for connecting the world and downloading information 631 00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:02,240 Speaker 1: into our brains. And I've heard a lot of scaremongering 632 00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:04,800 Speaker 1: about like the dangers of cell phones and is five 633 00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:08,080 Speaker 1: G safe, etcetera. People worrying about whether their cell phone 634 00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:10,680 Speaker 1: is going to give them cancer. They won't. You don't 635 00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:13,640 Speaker 1: have to worry about it. That radiation is not dangerous. 636 00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:17,440 Speaker 1: It's very very low energy radiation. It's r F frequency, 637 00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:20,759 Speaker 1: which means it's radio waves. It's very low frequency, which 638 00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:24,240 Speaker 1: means it's very low energy, so it can't ionize your atom. 639 00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:26,520 Speaker 1: So you can just make them wiggle a little bit, 640 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:29,480 Speaker 1: you know, kind of gently. Bananas are more dangerous than 641 00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:33,480 Speaker 1: cell phones, So don't worry about using your cell phones. Okay, 642 00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:37,600 Speaker 1: what if you're like watching a movie on your phone 643 00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:42,960 Speaker 1: about a superhero who got irradiated by radiation? Is that 644 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:45,080 Speaker 1: just just just that just blows your mind? Are you 645 00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:51,160 Speaker 1: about to pitch me banana man? Is that what this is? Potato? 646 00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:54,359 Speaker 1: It's the whole team, Potato Man, Kidney Man, Kidney bees Man, 647 00:34:54,560 --> 00:35:01,560 Speaker 1: Brazil not Man, Brazilian. He's he's just called the Brazilian. Okay, 648 00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:05,720 Speaker 1: I'm gonna disavow loud laughing at that joke. Seems culturally 649 00:35:05,719 --> 00:35:08,920 Speaker 1: insensitive somehow. I'm not sure how. But yeah, radiation plays 650 00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:11,799 Speaker 1: a big role, right, not just in communication also or 651 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:14,600 Speaker 1: in treatment, but also in diagnosis. Right. You go to 652 00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:16,960 Speaker 1: the hospital and you want to see, like did I 653 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:19,600 Speaker 1: break my wrist or is it just really hurt? Right? 654 00:35:19,640 --> 00:35:21,920 Speaker 1: What do they do? They take an X ray? You 655 00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:24,400 Speaker 1: want to see, like, hey, what's going on inside my guts? 656 00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:26,480 Speaker 1: Do I have appendicitis or not? Right? They do a 657 00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:30,359 Speaker 1: cat scan. All that uses radiation to image what's going 658 00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:32,920 Speaker 1: on inside your body. So, I mean, you work at 659 00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:36,960 Speaker 1: the large Hadron collider, and so you you know that 660 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:39,799 Speaker 1: there's a lot of radiation out there. There definitely is, 661 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:42,359 Speaker 1: Yet you still go to work. Yet people go to work. Yeah, 662 00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:45,160 Speaker 1: you could die every day due to anything, but people 663 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:47,080 Speaker 1: just seem to get up and go to work anyway. Right, 664 00:35:47,120 --> 00:35:52,640 Speaker 1: That's kind of amazing. I see, it's like an acceptable risk. Yeah, Well, 665 00:35:52,719 --> 00:35:55,080 Speaker 1: we don't have much radiation at the large Hagon collider. 666 00:35:55,480 --> 00:35:58,160 Speaker 1: The particles do collide and they create a lot of radiation, 667 00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:01,280 Speaker 1: but it's a hundred meters underground, and so we're shielded 668 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:03,520 Speaker 1: by a lot of earth. So there's not a lot 669 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:05,920 Speaker 1: of radiation risk at the at the LHC. You know, 670 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:09,160 Speaker 1: I mean just from staring at your computers along. Oh yes, absolutely, 671 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:12,239 Speaker 1: you know there's radiation everywhere and it's just part of life, right, 672 00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:14,440 Speaker 1: and so you go about your normal day, you get 673 00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:17,319 Speaker 1: your dose of radiation. Um. You know you can you 674 00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:19,520 Speaker 1: can use apps or you can get a dissimiter to 675 00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:22,759 Speaker 1: track your radiation dose. Um. There is one thing which 676 00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:25,040 Speaker 1: people should be aware of, which is rate on gas. 677 00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:27,600 Speaker 1: Rate on gas is something that happens in various places 678 00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:29,920 Speaker 1: around the world and on the East Coast. It's this 679 00:36:30,040 --> 00:36:34,239 Speaker 1: invisible radioactive gas that seeps out from people's basements and 680 00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:36,960 Speaker 1: it actually does kill like tens of thousands of people 681 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:40,440 Speaker 1: every year. So real. Yeah, that is actually something you 682 00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:43,160 Speaker 1: can do to potentially save yourself from cancer is just 683 00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:46,400 Speaker 1: get like a cheap rate on detector. Wow. So this 684 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:50,280 Speaker 1: this is gas that is radioactive. Like it it's gas 685 00:36:50,320 --> 00:36:53,759 Speaker 1: that's breaking down and emitting all kinds of protons and 686 00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:58,200 Speaker 1: particles exactly. It's emitting radiation and it's invisible and it 687 00:36:58,239 --> 00:37:00,880 Speaker 1: doesn't smell like anything, and it's see up from underground. 688 00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:03,399 Speaker 1: It's like a naturally occurring thing. So a lot of people, 689 00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:06,040 Speaker 1: like the earth shifts, it'll it'll start to collect in 690 00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:09,439 Speaker 1: your basement, and then people can be getting these high 691 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:13,680 Speaker 1: doses of radiation without even knowing about it, reaping it in, right, yeah, 692 00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:17,040 Speaker 1: breathing it in exactly. So I can't imagine why anyone 693 00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:21,640 Speaker 1: would think radiation is bad. Exactly. No, it can be dangerous, 694 00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:23,880 Speaker 1: and so if that's the kind of thing you worry about, 695 00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:25,640 Speaker 1: you should, or you have the young kids or whatever, 696 00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:28,200 Speaker 1: you should definitely look to see if you live in 697 00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:30,800 Speaker 1: a kind of place where radiant where radar occurs naturally, 698 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:32,840 Speaker 1: so you should get it checked out, because that is 699 00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:35,279 Speaker 1: really a health houzard. Well, this one is interesting. You 700 00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:38,480 Speaker 1: also wat down here that we use radiation to make 701 00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:42,840 Speaker 1: our food safer. Yeah, exactly. If you take a slab 702 00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:44,920 Speaker 1: of meat, for example, and you zap it with a 703 00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:47,680 Speaker 1: bunch of radiation, you can kill everything that's still alive 704 00:37:47,719 --> 00:37:50,480 Speaker 1: in it, meaning bacteria. Right, So you want to keep 705 00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:53,120 Speaker 1: your meat safe, you can zap it with radiation. It 706 00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:56,640 Speaker 1: will kill almost everything in there. Um, So that's one 707 00:37:56,760 --> 00:37:59,640 Speaker 1: one way we can use radiation to keep ourselves safe. 708 00:37:59,719 --> 00:38:02,640 Speaker 1: Of there's a twist to that, which is that you're 709 00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:06,440 Speaker 1: applying artificial selection, which means you zap enough steaks and 710 00:38:06,520 --> 00:38:09,200 Speaker 1: eventually all that's going to be left is bacteria that 711 00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:15,200 Speaker 1: can survive radiation, and so you're like helping breed radiation 712 00:38:15,239 --> 00:38:18,480 Speaker 1: proof bacteria. Well, you're something that I've never quite understood, 713 00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:22,680 Speaker 1: which is that um radiation needs to be something that 714 00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:24,719 Speaker 1: you can pass from one thing to the other. Do 715 00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:28,160 Speaker 1: you know what I mean? Like like chernobyl happen and 716 00:38:28,320 --> 00:38:31,359 Speaker 1: all this radioactive stuff went out there. But it also 717 00:38:31,400 --> 00:38:34,919 Speaker 1: you can also sort of irradiate things make things radioactive. Yes, 718 00:38:34,960 --> 00:38:38,239 Speaker 1: that true? Yeah, the way that works, it's not like contagion, 719 00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:41,560 Speaker 1: like a disease, though there's something in common. What happens 720 00:38:41,719 --> 00:38:46,200 Speaker 1: is that radiation can cause other things to become radioactive. Right, 721 00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:49,560 Speaker 1: It can make yours, It can make um new things unstable. 722 00:38:49,800 --> 00:38:52,839 Speaker 1: So how does that work? Well, radiation, like uranium breaks down, 723 00:38:52,920 --> 00:38:56,120 Speaker 1: it shoots out protons and neutrons. Those protons and neutrons 724 00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:58,879 Speaker 1: can hit other atoms and make those unstable. It can 725 00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:02,279 Speaker 1: cause like a chain react action. Right, So radiation can 726 00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:05,480 Speaker 1: definitely spread it's not just like, oh that radiation hit 727 00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:08,759 Speaker 1: me and I'm done. It can make something inside you radioactive, 728 00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:11,680 Speaker 1: which could then unstable, which means it like breaks up 729 00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:16,080 Speaker 1: and shoots out more particles. Right. Right. So, for example, 730 00:39:16,120 --> 00:39:18,400 Speaker 1: you have like a block of metal that was at 731 00:39:18,440 --> 00:39:22,160 Speaker 1: Chernobyl or block of concrete right that got irradiated a lot. 732 00:39:22,239 --> 00:39:25,520 Speaker 1: Then it becomes radioactive. And the reason is that stuff 733 00:39:25,560 --> 00:39:28,200 Speaker 1: inside that concrete or that that brick or that block 734 00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:30,840 Speaker 1: then became unstable because I got hit by a passing 735 00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:36,920 Speaker 1: particle and now it's emitting particles. Wow. Yeah, so it's 736 00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:41,439 Speaker 1: sort of good and bad. Right. Radiation can be good 737 00:39:41,440 --> 00:39:46,040 Speaker 1: for all these treatments to communicate, to kill bacteria, but 738 00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:48,680 Speaker 1: it can also you know, if you get overexposed to it, 739 00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:52,400 Speaker 1: it can give you cancer. Yeah, exactly. It's you know, 740 00:39:52,400 --> 00:39:54,840 Speaker 1: it's like everything else in science. It's an awesome power. 741 00:39:54,920 --> 00:39:58,080 Speaker 1: It shows us that the universe is incredible and has 742 00:39:58,200 --> 00:40:00,920 Speaker 1: so much that we have not yet understood. Um. And 743 00:40:00,960 --> 00:40:04,120 Speaker 1: that power can be used for good or for bad. Exactly. 744 00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:06,360 Speaker 1: It can hurt you or it can help you. Um. 745 00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:08,760 Speaker 1: I think. One one of my favorite stories about life 746 00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:11,000 Speaker 1: and radiation came from my wife who told me the 747 00:40:11,040 --> 00:40:13,840 Speaker 1: story about this amazing bacteria they discover that can survive 748 00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:17,600 Speaker 1: like almost any amount of radiation. And the way it 749 00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:20,279 Speaker 1: does it is it has like fifty copies of its 750 00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:23,360 Speaker 1: DNA inside it. So if radiation comes in and blast 751 00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:25,480 Speaker 1: one open, it's like, no worries. I got forty nine 752 00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:30,000 Speaker 1: backups and it just like repairs and it fixes the 753 00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:32,759 Speaker 1: one that got damaged to right, Yeah, exactly. It has 754 00:40:32,880 --> 00:40:34,719 Speaker 1: a bunch of copies and it has all these things 755 00:40:34,800 --> 00:40:37,239 Speaker 1: zooming around all the time to fix mistakes. It's like, 756 00:40:37,520 --> 00:40:39,560 Speaker 1: you know, you gotta drive, you gotta backup of your 757 00:40:39,600 --> 00:40:42,520 Speaker 1: hard drive and something goes wrong, you you recover from 758 00:40:42,520 --> 00:40:46,040 Speaker 1: the backup. This thing is like fifty backups simultaneously at 759 00:40:46,040 --> 00:40:49,160 Speaker 1: all times, and so we can survive a lot of radiation. 760 00:40:49,640 --> 00:40:52,920 Speaker 1: So that that's something you can do to prevent radiation 761 00:40:52,960 --> 00:40:59,719 Speaker 1: poisoning yourself become a bacteria. Yeah, I wouldn't recommend that, 762 00:41:04,160 --> 00:41:06,440 Speaker 1: all right, Daniel, Well, I think I learned that I'm 763 00:41:06,440 --> 00:41:11,239 Speaker 1: gonna have to stop eating bananas and going on airplanes. Well, 764 00:41:11,280 --> 00:41:13,399 Speaker 1: I think you should fly less, yes, but I think 765 00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:15,759 Speaker 1: you can eat bananas without worrying about it too much. 766 00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:17,759 Speaker 1: Maybe you should trade, you should take fewer trips and 767 00:41:17,760 --> 00:41:21,799 Speaker 1: eat more bananas. Take fewer trips to eat more bananas exactly. 768 00:41:22,960 --> 00:41:25,480 Speaker 1: So there you go, folks, that's what radiation is. A 769 00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:28,040 Speaker 1: lot of people did understand what radiation was. It's you know, 770 00:41:28,360 --> 00:41:31,600 Speaker 1: ultra vilet light, it's gamma rays, it's particles shut out 771 00:41:31,600 --> 00:41:34,320 Speaker 1: by radioactive elements, and it can certainly hurt you, and 772 00:41:34,360 --> 00:41:36,279 Speaker 1: you should be on the lookout for radon gas and 773 00:41:36,320 --> 00:41:38,040 Speaker 1: you should think about the flights you take. But it 774 00:41:38,080 --> 00:41:40,799 Speaker 1: can also help you. So like everything in science, it's 775 00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:44,040 Speaker 1: fundamentally neutral and it just depends on how it's applied. 776 00:41:44,200 --> 00:41:47,640 Speaker 1: And in either case, just remember to wear your sunscreen 777 00:41:48,320 --> 00:41:50,480 Speaker 1: or at least a hat. That's right. And if you're 778 00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:54,399 Speaker 1: eating banana, make sure to wear a helmet or make 779 00:41:54,440 --> 00:41:56,960 Speaker 1: your make a hat out of bananas. Does that does 780 00:41:56,960 --> 00:42:00,880 Speaker 1: that cancel out? That sounds totally safe to me. Absolutely, 781 00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:04,600 Speaker 1: I totally open. Please please go ahead and send me 782 00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:09,200 Speaker 1: a picture. All right, Thanks for listening, everybody. We hope 783 00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:12,240 Speaker 1: you enjoyed that. Tune in next time, keep on radiating. 784 00:42:20,200 --> 00:42:22,520 Speaker 1: If you still have a question after listening to all 785 00:42:22,560 --> 00:42:25,759 Speaker 1: these explanations, please drop us a line. We'd love to 786 00:42:25,800 --> 00:42:28,200 Speaker 1: hear from you. You can find us at Facebook, Twitter, 787 00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:31,960 Speaker 1: and Instagram at Daniel and Jorge That's one Word, or 788 00:42:32,080 --> 00:42:36,040 Speaker 1: email us at Feedback at Daniel and Jorge dot com. 789 00:42:36,040 --> 00:42:38,840 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening and remember that Daniel and Jorge Explain 790 00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:41,880 Speaker 1: the Universe is a production of I Heart Radio from 791 00:42:41,960 --> 00:42:45,240 Speaker 1: More podcast from my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio, 792 00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:49,360 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.