To Stay Safe, We Need to Detect Radiation

The recent Japanese nuclear power plant meltdown has spurred scientists on to find better ways to detect radiation. They could also use these methods to search for countries (like Iran) that are secretly making nuclear weapons–as well as terrorists who want to use "dirty bombs." The International Atomic Energy Agency mandates nuclear safeguard systems to on these reactors, but one thing they DON’T show is how much plutonium or uranium is present in the fuel rods of these reactors, some of which could be diverted to use for manufacturing weapons. With nuclear reactors supplying large amounts of the power used on this planet–especially in Europe–this is not a small problem.

The things to look for are tiny particles called antineutrinos, which are emitted during nuclear reactions and radioactive decay. In LiveScience.com, Charles Q. Choi quotes physicist Nathaniel Bowden as saying, "Nuclear fission reactors are the most intense man-made source of antineutrinos. They don’t produce neutrinos, only antineutrinos." Best of all, these detectors don’t have to be placed inside the reactor core, but can be a few yards away (thus used in drones or placed covertly near nuclear facilities in places like Iran?)

If our water is contaminated by radiation from Japan, how can we make it safe to drink again? A combination of forest byproducts and crustacean shells may be the key to removing radioactive materials from drinking water. This new material not only absorbs water, but can actually extract contaminates, such as radioactive iodide, from it. If you’re traveling in scary places, it could be used like a tea bag and can also remove heavy metals such as arsenic from water or salt from sea water to make clean drinking water. This could be a boon to island nations with a shortage of potable water! Biomaterials expert Joel Pawlak says, "This material could completely change the way we safeguard the world’s drinking water supply."

ANOTHER great thing about beautiful Nashville–the water is SAFE to drink! And we always have coffee and tea on hand (made with that safe water) so you can talk with your old friends and meet new ones, because it’s so NICE to talk with people who think the same way YOU do about things like UFOs, that the rest of the world seems to either dismiss or laugh at.