this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2025
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https://www.orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/spinthariscopes/lone-ranger-atom-bomb-ring-spinthariscope.html
Huh.
Even while the ring's effect was still happening, though, kids weren't really in danger. Alpha radiation can be dangerous when ingested, but it's also the easiest type of radiation to block — even a sheet of paper is enough, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Alpha is the weakest, usually stopping on the skin or other thin layer. Gamma goes right through a person. In college, we were warned more about beta emission because beta could enter the body by couldn't leave in the same way that gamma could.
Alpha is generally considered the most dangurous, so saying it is the weakest is kinda doing an injustice. The penetration is the weakest, the radiation is the most harmful.
That reminds me of the myth related to the daddy long-legs, that it has the most potent venom of any spider but can't break your skin.
the hollowpoint particle.