Radiation

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In physics, radiation describes any process in which energy emitted by one body travels through a medium or through space, ultimately to be absorbed by another body. Non-physicists often associate the word with ionizing radiation (e.g., as occurring in nuclear weapons, nuclear reactors, and radioactive substances), but it can also refer to electromagnetic radiation (i.e., radio waves, infrared light, visible light, ultraviolet light, and X-rays) which can also be ionizing radiation, to acoustic radiation, or to other more obscure processes. What makes it radiation is that the energy radiates (i.e., it travels outward in straight lines in all directions) from the source. This geometry naturally leads to a system of measurements and physical units that are equally applicable to all types of radiation.

For more information about Radiation, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with radiation

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Rare pancreatic cancer patients may live longer when treated with radiation therapy

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 20, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Radiation therapy is effective in achieving local control and palliation in patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNTs), despite such tumors being commonly considered resistant to radiation therapy, according to ...


Detecting the Undetectable in Prostate Cancer Testing

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of Northwestern University researchers, using an extremely sensitive nanotechnology-based tool known as the biobarcode system, has detected previously undetectable levels of prostate-specific antigen ...


Study: CT scans rule out heart attacks faster

Medicine & Health / Other

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(AP) -- A new study suggests that a type of "super X-ray" can give a faster, cheaper way to tell whether a chest pain sufferer is really having a heart attack.


Experts: Failure to focus on farming will undermine global climate agreement and increase hunger

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Alarmed by a substantial oversight in the global climate talks leading up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen next month, more than 60 of the world's most prominent agricultural scientists and leaders ...


COBE Satellite Marks 20th Anniversary

COBE Satellite Marks 20th Anniversary

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite rocketed into Earth orbit on Nov. 18, 1989, and quickly revolutionized our understanding of the early cosmos. Developed and built at Goddard ...


Stem cells alleviate tumor treatment side effects

Stem cells alleviate tumor treatment side effects

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Human embryonic stem cells could help people with learning and memory deficits after radiation treatment for brain tumors, suggests a new UC Irvine study.


Text message reminders can encourage healthy action

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

People who received daily text messages reminding them to apply sunscreen were nearly twice as likely to use it as those who did not receive such messages, a new study led by a UC Davis Health System dermatologist has found. ...


Acute heart attack patients receiving high ionizing radiation dose

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Acute heart attack patients received an average total dose of ionizing radiation equal to 725 chest X-rays from medical tests during their hospital stay, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's ...


Optical properties of the Antarctic system and new radiation information

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The Antarctic system comprises of the continent itself, Antarctica, and the ocean surrounding it, the Southern Ocean. In a study for a doctoral degree by geophysicist Kai Rasmus, University of Helsinki, Finland, measurements ...


How cells tolerate DNA damage -- start signal for cell survival program identified

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Cancer researchers of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany, have gained new insights into how cells react to DNA damage. Dr. Michael Stilmann, Dr. Michael Hinz and Professor Claus Scheidereit ...


Mysterious X-rays from a Nearby Galaxy

Mysterious X-rays from a Nearby Galaxy

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 13, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (15) | comments 8

(PhysOrg.com) -- The nucleus of an active galaxy, an AGN, contains a massive black hole that is vigorously accreting material. In the process it typically ejects jets of particles and radiates brightly at ...


Persistent pain common for many women 2 to 3 years after breast cancer treatment

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Nearly 50 percent of women surveyed indicate they experience pain symptoms 2 to 3 years after breast cancer treatment, with women who were younger or who received supplemental radiation therapy more likely to have pain, according ...


Stem cells restore cognitive abilities impaired by brain tumor treatment, study finds

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Human embryonic stem cells could help people with learning and memory deficits after radiation treatment for brain tumors, suggests a new UC Irvine study.


St. Jude and UF Proton Therapy Institute to begin proton therapy clinical trial

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute have formed a collaboration to provide proton therapy for St. Jude patients. The announcement follows the approval of the first ...


Scientists Reproduce a Building Block of Life in Laboratory

Scientists Reproduce a Building Block of Life in Laboratory

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Nov 06, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (28) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA scientists studying the origin of life have reproduced uracil, a key component of our hereditary material, in the laboratory.