Millions of Americans are exposed to low doses of radiation over their lifetime, but we don’t know what its effects are (and how severe they might be) on the human body. American researchers are urging the government to revitalise research into the health effects of low-dose radiation because it seems to have a lot of far-reaching effects that manifest decades later. It’s been linked to cardiovascular diseases, neurological disorders, and cancer. Most exposed groups have been exposed involuntarily, like indigenous communities, veterans, and those near legacy nuclear testing sites. Read full article here
Science
‘Ghostly’ neutrinos provide new path to study protons
In groundbreaking research, an international collaboration of scientists from the University of Rochester have used a beam of neutrinos to measure the size and shape of the protons that make up the nuclei of atoms. This feat, once thought impossible, provides scientists with a new way of looking at the small components of an atom’s nucleus and opens up a wealth of new information about the structure of an atom’s nucleus and the dynamics of the forces that affect neutrino interactions. The researchers solved the challenge of harnessing neutrinos in large numbers by using a neutrino detector containing a target of both hydrogen and carbon atoms, and over nine years of data collection at Fermilab’s accelerator. Read full article here
Merv
March 25, 2023
