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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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 4.8 / 5 (23) | comments 0

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


First use of antibody and stem cell transplantation to successfully treat advanced leukemia

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0

For the first time, researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have reported the use of a radiolabeled antibody to deliver targeted doses of radiation, followed by a stem cell transplant, to successfully treat ...


Are the Alps growing or shrinking?

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 2 / 5 (1) | comments 0

The Alps are growing just as quickly in height, as they are shrinking. This paradoxical result could be proven by a group of German and Swiss geoscientists. Due to glaciers and rivers about exactly the same amount of material ...


Hidden Territory on Mercury Revealed

Hidden Territory on Mercury Revealed

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (20) | comments 1

The MESSENGER spacecraft's third flyby of the planet Mercury has given scientists, for the first time, an almost complete view of the planet's surface and revealed some dramatic changes in Mercury's comet-like ...


Radiation therapy after lumpectomy for breast cancer can be safely reduced to 4 weeks

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center found that radiation treatment for women who had a lumpectomy for early-stage breast cancer can be safely reduced to four weeks, instead of the usual six to seven weeks, by delivering ...


Chemo-radiation before prostate removal may prevent cancer recurrence

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Researchers in the Oregon Health & Science University Knight Cancer Institute and the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center have found a combination of radiation therapy and chemotherapy given before prostate removal is ...


Plentiful poinsettias without PGRs

Plentiful poinsettias without PGRs

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Poinsettias can be a lucrative crop for ornamental plant growers, particularly during the Christmas season. In the temperate regions of the southern hemisphere, where poinsettias are grown for both export ...


Does race, income predict prostate cancer outcome?

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A patient's socioeconomic status (income, martial status and race) has absolutely no impact on his outcome following curative radiation therapy for the treatment of prostate cancer, according to a new study from Henry Ford ...


Cancer patients want honesty, compassion from their oncologist

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

What do patients want from their radiation oncologists? The most significant preference is that more than one-third of female cancer patients (37 percent) prefer to have their hands held by their radiation oncologists during ...


Study finds it's safe to treat HER2-positive breast cancer with trastuzumab and adjuvant radiation

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 03, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Standard adjuvant treatment for HER2-positive breast cancer patients, following primary surgery for their cancer, is Trastuzumab (Herceptin)--typically used in combination with chemotherapy. However, a new study by researchers ...


PET imaging before radiation not ideal for determining boost radiation doses

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 03, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PHILADELPHIA) Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of non-small cell lung cancer prior to receiving radiation therapy should not be the basis for determining areas that may benefit from higher doses of radiation, according ...


Aiming to avoid damage to neurocognitive areas of the brain during cranial radiation

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 03, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Radiation oncologists at Rush University Medical Center are intent on finding ways to avoid damage to the critically important hippocampus and limbic circuit of the brain when cranial radiation is required to treat existing ...


Radiation therapy technique successfully treats pain in patients with advanced cancer

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 03, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), a radiation therapy procedure pioneered at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) that precisely delivers a large dose of radiation to tumors, effectively controls pain in patients ...


Fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy reduces vision loss in optic nerve sheath meningiomas

Medicine & Health / Other

created Nov 03, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Optic nerve sheath meningiomas are rare tumors that are traditionally treated with surgery, which is typically a blinding procedure. However, researchers from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital have found that a specialized ...


Task force develops new radiation guidelines for brachytherapy

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 03, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Radiation dose delivered to the prostate and nearby organs in every brachytherapy procedure should be carefully analyzed using post-implant CT or MRI and uniformly documented in every patient, according to a new guideline ...