F. Radiation Can Be Good for You

1. We know today that overexposure to X-rays is dangerous. However, from the 1930s to the 1950s, salesmen in shoe shops actually used X-ray machines for fitting shoes. It was estimated that there were 10,000 of these devices in use. The device consisted of an x-ray tube with a fluorescent (светящийся) screen above it. In use, the customer placed his or her feet between the two, and an X-ray image of the customer's feet with shoes on them appeared on the screen. In reality, the shoe-fitting machine was just a way to attract potential customers. In 1949, the dangers of radiation became widely known, and the machines disappeared from the shops during the 1950s.

2. Radiation exposure has always attracted comic book writers. We think it is because radiation can change DNA and cause mutations and superpowers. Here is just a short list of some comic book characters affected by radioactivity: Spider-Man, Radioactive Man, Godzilla, X-ray, Doctor Phosphorus. There are dozens more, and who knows how many are living in the minds of tomorrow's comic book writers?

3. Before you lock yourself down in your nuclear shelter, remember that some radiation is actually beneficial to your health. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation, for example, is necessary for the body to stimulate production of vitamin D. Yes, a little bit of sunlight is actually good for you. But experts say that five to 15 minutes a day, three times a week, is more than enough to keep your vitamin D levels high.

4. In the 1920s, a watch company used the newly discovered substance radium to make its watches glow in the dark. Thousands of girls went to work in the watch factory to paint watch dials with glow-in-the-dark paint which contained radium. Thinking that the paint was harmless, the girls licked their paintbrushes to keep them sharp. For fun, the girls painted their teeth and lips and turned off the lights. Although managers regularly tested the girls for radioactivity, the women never received the results of these tests. Many of the workers became sick. Many others died over the years, but a link was never proved and the company never took responsibility.

5. ­S­adly, the very thing that made Marie Curie famous is what eventually killed her. In the late 1890s, both Marie and her husband Pierre began suffering from various diseases. Marie suffered several cataracts (a side effect of radiation) and eventually got leukaemia caused by exposure to large amounts of radiation from her research. After her death, Marie's family gave her lab journals to the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, where they are still kept. Some of these papers were so radioactive that they required years of decontamination before anyone could handle them.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14