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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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Vacuum flask

Scientists Create Material More Insulating than the Vacuum

Physics / General Physics

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (57) | comments 27

(PhysOrg.com) -- With its complete lack of atoms, a vacuum is often considered to be the best known insulator. For this reason, vacuums are regularly used to reduce heat transfer, such as in the lining of ...


Turning metal black more than just a novelty

Physics / General Physics

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (20) | comments 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Rochester optics professor Chunlei Guo made headlines in the past couple of years when he changed the color of everyday metals by scouring their surfaces with precise, high-intensity laser bursts.


Herschel Space Telescope uncovers the sources of the Cosmic Infrared Background

Herschel Space Telescope uncovers the sources of the Cosmic Infrared Background

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 16, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (12) | comments 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- Using first observations with the PACS Instrument on board ESA’s Herschel Space Telescope, scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and other institutions have ...


How water forms where Earth-like planets are born

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (10) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a study that helps to explain the origins of water on Earth, University of Michigan astronomers have found that water vapor can form spontaneously in habitable zones of solar systems, and that it develops ...


Scientists observe super-massive black holes using Keck Observatory in Hawaii

Scientists observe super-massive black holes using Keck Observatory in Hawaii

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (8) | comments 3

An international team of scientists has observed four super-massive black holes at the center of galaxies, which may provide new information on how these central black hole systems operate. Their findings ...


Lightning

Lightning-produced radiation a potential health concern for air travelers

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 07, 2009 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (10) | comments 7

New information about lightning-emitted X-rays, gamma rays and high-energy electrons during thunderstorms is prompting scientists to raise concerns about the potential for airline passengers and crews to be ...


Oh, the Secrets Ice Crystals Will Tell!

Studying ice crystals to understand the cloud-climate connection

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (7) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Beginning in mid-December, scientists will undertake a special mission to squeeze the secrets out of ice crystals in cirrus clouds. The SPARTICUS, or Small Particles in Cirrus, campaign will ...


Tumor-attacking virus strikes with 'one-two punch'

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 0

Ohio State University cancer researchers have developed a tumor-attacking virus that both kills brain-tumor cells and blocks the growth of new tumor blood vessels.


A view of the Swiss Alps at Matterhorn

Sunshine speeded 1940s Swiss glacier melt: scientists

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 4

A surge in sunshine more than 60 years ago helped Swiss mountain glaciers melt faster than today, even though warmer average temperatures are being recorded now, Swiss researchers said Monday.


Lung cancer and melanoma laid bare: First comprehensive analysis of two cancer genomes

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Dec 16, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Research teams led by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute announce the first comprehensive analyses of cancer genomes. All cancers are caused by mutations in the DNA of cancer cells which are acquired during a person's lifetime. ...


Strong regional climatic fluctuations in the tropics

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Climatic fluctuations close to the equator show a different pattern to climate change in the Arctic and Antarctic. In the tropics distinct 11500 year fluctuations between wet and dry periods can be clearly identified which ...


FDA researchers identify new MRI safety risk for patients with pacemakers

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (3) | comments 0

FDA researchers have found that certain cardiac pacemakers may inadequately stimulate a patient's heart while undergoing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan due to the magnetic pulses mixing with the electronic pulses ...


Ecosystem, vegetation affect intensity of urban heat island effect

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

NASA researchers studying urban landscapes have found that the intensity of the "heat island" created by a city depends on the ecosystem it replaced and on the regional climate. Urban areas developed in arid and semi-arid ...


Study reveals chemo's toxicity to brain, possible treatment

Medicine & Health / Cancer

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

Researchers have developed a novel animal model showing that four commonly used chemotherapy drugs disrupt the birth of new brain cells, and that the condition could be partially reversed with the growth factor IGF-1.


Scientists identify possible therapy target for aggressive cancer

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found that a naturally occurring protein -- transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-ß1) -- which normally suppresses the growth of cancer cells, causes a rebound effect after ...