Radiation

Radiation is a major danger of space travel, and with human crews heading back to the Moon it’s important to understand the risks. Now we have the clearest data on that to date, thanks to an instrument onboard the Chinese lunar lander Chang’e-4.

Progress on quantum computers may soon stall. Cosmic rays streaming to Earth can interfere with the integrity of information in quantum computers, and now an MIT team has shown just how vulnerable they are and what it might take to protect them.

A new diagnostic tool developed by scientists at Ohio State University promises to drastically reduce the time needed to detect radiation sickness, by measuring a pair of key biomarkers in just a single drop of blood.

Radiation is famously damaging to materials, but now engineers at MIT have been surprised to discover that radiation may actually help certain alloys to self-heal, extending their useful lifetime. This could help inform future power plant designs.

Ideally, we protect the body from radiation damage before it reaches us with shielding materials. Researchers have now developed a new nanocrystal treatment that could prevent some of the tissue damage radiation causes.

Scientists at EMPA have developed a new aerogel-based material that blocks a wide range of electromagnetic radiation frequencies, forming what they describe as by far the lightest electromagnetic shielding material in the world.

A new study has revealed that a cataclysmic disruption of Earth’s protective ozone layer may have allowed damaging levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation to saturate the Earth 359 million years ago, triggering a global mass extinction.

How radiation in space impacts the human body is one of the key questions facing scientists planning for future missions to the Moon and beyond, and NASA now has a powerful new tool to study the phenomenon here on Earth.

Scientists have developed a new polymer that could be the basis for cheaper, lighter and more environmentally friendly radiation shielding. It is created by introducing bismuth trioxide particles into PMMA resin, which was then cured with UV light.

Promising new research from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), suggests an old schizophrenia drug could significantly enhance the efficacy of radiation treatment for one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer.

Searching for sources of potentially harmful radiation isn't a job that most people would want – so why not get a drone to do it? Well, a team of Czech engineers is currently developing just such an aircraft.

Scientists at North Carolina State University have developed a technique that could allow bricks and other common building materials to act as "cameras" that reveal the location and distribution of radioactive materials once in their vicinity.