Tag Archives: Radiation

Best Product Entry: Open Source Internet of Dosimeter

Posted on by

[Radu Motisan] Has entered a cool project into the Best Product portion of this year’s Hackaday Prize. It’s called an Open Source IoT Dosimeter. It has a Geiger tube for detecting radiation levels along with Internet connectivity and a host of other goodies.

Dubbed the KIT1, this IoT dosimeter can be used as a portable radiation detector with its Nokia 5110 LCD as an output or a monitoring station with Ethernet. With its inbuilt speaker, it alerts users to areas with excessive radiation. KIT1 is a fully functioning system with no need for a computer to get readouts, making it …read more

Continue reading Best Product Entry: Open Source Internet of Dosimeter→

Radioactive Cats and Nuclear Priests: How to Warn the Future About Toxic Waste

Posted on by

Nuclear waste can remain toxic for tens of thousands of years. How do you warn the future that they’re standing on nuclear waste when there’s no one around to translate? Continue reading Radioactive Cats and Nuclear Priests: How to Warn the Future About Toxic Waste→

Radioactive Cats and Nuclear Priests: How to Warn the Future About Toxic Waste

Posted on by

Nuclear waste can remain toxic for tens of thousands of years. How do you warn the future that they’re standing on nuclear waste when there’s no one around to translate? Continue reading Radioactive Cats and Nuclear Priests: How to Warn the Future About Toxic Waste→

A Brief History of Radioactivity

Posted on by

More than one hundred years ago, Henri Becquerel discovered that uranium emitted penetrating rays similar to those used by Wilhelm Röntgen to take the first X-ray image (of his wife’s hand), starting a new era of far-reaching applications. There are of course many dangers that come with the use of radioactivity, but there are also many beneficial uses for our society.

WHAT IS RADIOACTIVITY

The nucleus of an atom is made of protons and neutrons. Because protons have positive charge, they repel each other, so there must be a force that holds the nucleus together, and the neutrons don’t help, …read more

Continue reading A Brief History of Radioactivity→

Heat Shrink Tubing and the Chemistry Behind Its Magic

Posted on by

There’s a lot to be said in favor of getting kids involved in hacking as young as possible, but there is one thing about working in electronics that I believe is best left as a mystery until at least the teenage years — hide the shrink tube. Teach them to breadboard, have them learn resistor color codes and Ohm’s Law, and even teach them to solder. But don’t you dare let them near the heat shrink tubing. Foolishly reveal that magical stuff to kids, and if there’s a heat source anywhere nearby I guarantee they’ll blow through your entire stock …read more

Continue reading Heat Shrink Tubing and the Chemistry Behind Its Magic→

Mood Lamp Also Warns of Nuclear Catastrophe

Posted on by

[Michal Zalewski] has radiation on the brain. Why else would he gut a perfectly-horrible floor lamp, rebuild the entire thing with high-power RGB LEDs, and then drive it with a microcontroller that is connected up to a Geiger-Müller tube? Oh right, because it also looks very cool, and Geiger tubes are awesome.

If you’ve been putting off your own Geiger tube project, and we know you have, [Michal]’s detailed explanation of the driver circuit and building one from scratch should help get you off the couch. Since a Geiger tube needs 400 volts DC, some precautions are necessary here, and …read more

Continue reading Mood Lamp Also Warns of Nuclear Catastrophe→

Roam the Wastelands with this Fallout-Themed Mini Geiger Counter

Posted on by

For anyone who has worked with radioactive materials, there’s something that’s oddly comforting about the random clicks of a Geiger counter. And those comforting clicks are exactly why we like this simple pocket Geiger counter.

Another good reason to like [Tim]’s build is the Fallout theme of the case. While not an item from the game, the aesthetic he went for with the 3D-printed case certainly matches the Fallout universe. The counter itself is based on the popular Russian SBT-11A G-M tubes that are floating around eBay these days. You might recall them from coverage of this minimalist Geiger counter, …read more

Continue reading Roam the Wastelands with this Fallout-Themed Mini Geiger Counter→