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Radiation Detecting Android Phone Coming To Japan

Posted by Unknown on from the also-detects-invasion-by-mothra dept.

itwbennett writes "Softbank, Japan's third largest carrier, has teamed up with Sharp to create a radiation detector chip for the latest model in the company's popular, bare-bones Pantone line of smartphones. The chip 'can detect gamma radiation in the air at doses of between 0.05 and 9.99 microsieverts per hour,' according to an IDG News Service report. 'The phone then uses its GPS to place readings on a map. Due to go on sale in July, it runs Android 4.0 and features standard functionality for Japanese handsets, including mobile TV, touch payments and infrared transmission.'"

1 of 133 comments (clear)

  1. Re:That's seems awfully sensitive to me by Alwin+Henseler · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There's no legitimate reason for anyone (who's not a researcher or a nuclear plant employee) to be carrying a radiation detector around with them all the time.

    I call BS. You might as well say "There's no legitimate reason for anyone (who's not a researcher or a nuclear plant employee) to be carrying a detector for NOx levels" or something like that.

    You live in an environment, and you're interested (for whatever reason) to measure 1 aspect of that environment's condition. That's all there is to it, and that's all the 'legitimacy' you need.

    For that purpose the range seems appropriate... I've got a radiation chart here, some figures from lower end of the scale:
    0.1 microSv - airport security scan (backscatter X-ray)
    0.25 microSv - airport security scan maximum permitted
    1.0 microSv - using a CRT monitor for a year
    5.0 microSv - dental X-ray
    7.5 microSv - per day in Tokyo, 250 km SW of Fukushima plant
    40 microSv - Flight from New York to LA
    100 microSv - chest X-ray

    So that sensitivity range seems reasonable - note the "per hour" in there. Not radiation levels that would put you in hospital with 3 weeks to live, but the kind of levels above background that might be a concern longterm. Having a sensor that allows you to measure that throughout the day, wherever you go, sounds more useful than spot checks or relying (solely?) on government-provided figures.

    Whether you should bother, what levels are safe, etc, let people figure that out for themselves. I don't see any harm in adding some datapoints...