Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Strange Case of Solar Flares and Radioactive Decay Rates

Posted by Soulskill on from the cool-science dept.

DarkKnightRadick writes "Current models for radioactive decay have been challenged by, of all sources, the sun. According to the article, 'On Dec 13, 2006, the sun itself provided a crucial clue, when a solar flare sent a stream of particles and radiation toward Earth. Purdue nuclear engineer Jere Jenkins, while measuring the decay rate of manganese-54, a short-lived isotope used in medical diagnostics, noticed that the rate dropped slightly during the flare, a decrease that started about a day and a half before the flare.' This is important because the rate of decay is very important not just for antique dating, but also for cancer treatment, time keeping, and the generation of random numbers. This isn't a one time measurement, either. 'Checking data collected at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island and the Federal Physical and Technical Institute in Germany, they came across something even more surprising: long-term observation of the decay rate of silicon-32 and radium-226 seemed to show a small seasonal variation. The decay rate was ever so slightly faster in winter than in summer.'"

3 of 408 comments (clear)

  1. In other news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Linux is still for fags.

  2. I was saying this more than 6 years ago. by ROMRIX · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    On 08/14/04, 12:49 pm, I posted here;
    http://www.shellcity.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=26602&sid=9c46887527a49714e8b75b85e6ddbc27
    scroll down to my post, "romrix" and you will see this;

    ...why do scientists still involve/include "Time" in their equations when determining or extrapolating theories on relativity such as the proper mass of the universe? In short wouldn't it be prudent to omit time from the equation since "time" doesn't exist? I think, and this is only a theory of mine, that there is no such thing as time. What is referred to as time is, on a molecular/atomic scale, simply gravitational and/or magnetic field enhanced rate of change fluctuations in sub atomic particles. ie; decay rates altered by outside forces...

  3. As the kid's say... by barfy · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    This is really gross. Seriously. All the marijuana smoking pseudo physics guys on /. are going. "Woah".

    This is a really big macro affect, that hadn't been discovered yet, and it effects out understanding of Radioactive decay and Neutrino (flux) action.

    This is the kinda stuff that turns people into superheroes, and shit.

    This simply doesn't happen every day.