Slashdot Mirror
Government Lab Uses Smartphones To Measure Gamma Ray Exposure
KentuckyFC writes "Back in 2008, Slashdot reported that researchers were developing ways of turning cellphones into radiation detectors. Since then a few apps have even appeared that claim to do this. However, convincing evidence that they work as advertised is hard to come by. Now government researchers at Idaho National Labs have created their own app that uses an ordinary smartphone as a gamma ray detector, put it through its paces in the lab and published the results. The pixels in smartphone cameras can detect gamma rays in the same way as they pick up visible light. So when the lens is covered, the image should reveal evidence of gamma ray exposure once other noise has been removed, such as that from heat and current leakage. These guys have tested several types of Android smartphone with a variety of gamma ray sources at various different doses. The researchers say the phones give a reasonable measure of radiation dose, can detect the direction of source (by comparing the measurements from the front and back cameras) and can even measure the energy of the gamma rays by measuring the length of the tracks that appear in the image. While the results do not match the quality of bespoke detectors, that may not matter since in many circumstances cellphones are likely to be the only sensors that are available. That could be useful for emergency services, air travelers wanting to monitor their extra radiation dose on routes over the arctic and people who live in areas with a higher than average background radiation level."
You don't want my iPhone getting Angry!
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
HULK SMASH!!
Does sound like a neat idea. I'm hoping there won't be much call for it outside of labs though. I'm not a big fan of excessive radiation.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
It took me awhile to realize that the government wasn't using smartphones as equivalent *generators* of gamma rays for the purpose of radiation exposure testing.
I've always wondered why we can't do simple infrared or ultraviolet examinations of things with our smart phones.
I have a sneaky suspicion it's because not all clothing is opaque in those spectra, but I like neat science toys, and wish my phone was a little more tricorderish.
Read again. It doesn't generate radiation. It's not a nuclear power plant.
Though if someone writes an app to turn the phone into a safe nuclear power plant it might be popular.
Build your own energy sources from scratch. http://otherpower.com/
Man am I glad smartphones are finally getting out and about in public. This is the year of the smartphone! Hopefully we'll be able to use them to sense the ambient air pressure while in our submersibles soon.
It would work with already taken photos and stored all around internet? along with gps coordinates and date of the photo could give a good use a big (photographic) data.
Maybe someone *should* convert smartphones to gamma ray guns. In order to study the effects, of course.
Build your own energy sources from scratch. http://otherpower.com/
Here's some more info from a prior /. posting on CellRad
http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/13/05/17/2218226/cell-phones-as-a-radiological-dirty-bomb-detection-network
I am not sure the lack of a connection between swooshing doors and sexual attraction is clear. Can you elaborate.
Build your own energy sources from scratch. http://otherpower.com/
As neat science toys go - I came across plans a while back for passive IR goggles - you replace the lenses in a pair of welding goggles with a combination of theatre gels that block all visible light while allowing IR through. That allows your eyes limited natural ability to perceive IR to operate without being completely drowned out by the visible-spectrum light. It only really works on bright sunny days where the IR light source is sufficient, and you can't see thermal IR at all, but birds look freaking incredible.
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
You're right about the clothing bit. Sony forgot about this with their Nightshot equipped cameras and it made the headlines back in the 90's.
So, if this research has been done and it's been shown to be tenable, where are the apps so we can do so ourselves?
Presumably they did this on various Android phones and maybe an iPhone or two? I don't see anything in Play.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
If you have to fly a lot, you're going to fly a lot, whether your phone tells you its bad or not. Neat application of the technology, but not terribly useful to the average joe.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
here is an app from 2011 doing exactly that: video (there are a few): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAWQ-YT8BvE android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rdklein.radioactivity&hl=en iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/radioactivitycounter/id464004677?mt=8
TFA states that the "may" release the app but there are already a few gamma radiation detectors on the Play Store for Android such as these:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.camdetector.radiationalarm&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rdklein.radioactivity&hl=en
Basically you cover the lens with black tape to block light but of course gamma radiation can get through. The apps need to be calibrated to your individual phone since random noise in the sensor can give false readings. The apps provide a method to do that.
As the article states... the best radiation detector is the one you have with you.
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
Smoking stuff in many instances is now legal. So lots of people are smoking stuff, including while reading /.
Build your own energy sources from scratch. http://otherpower.com/
I'm sure a lawyer somewhere is salivating while going over airline disclosures... The average Joe may make him a lot of dough.
There are lots of ways of detecting gamma rays, but one really common way is through scintillation and/or fluorescence. Most common scintillators are small blocks of plastic. I'm thinking you could increase the sensitivity of the smartphone gamma system by simply taping a small piece of plexiglass to the outside of the camera lens, using plain old black electrical tape. Then the plexiglass would convert some of the gamma energy to visible light and the camera sensor would do the rest.
Total cost? Probably around $0.05 total.
The majority of the dose at airline altitudes is from neutrons (55%), with only a small component from photons (gammas are photons) - 5%. This is, of course, on average. I do not think anywhere in the preprint they claim to be able to measure anything but photons. Therefore, a cell phone will not do a great job of monitoring your radiation dose at airline altitudes.
However, there is a tool being developed by NASA which does a real-time calculation of your radiation dose along an airline trajectory. Check out NAIRAS
References:
Cosmic Radiation @ skybrary
NAIRAS aircraft radiation model development, dose climatology, and initial validation
It could be useful one the data is correlated. Having thousands of sensors constantly detect radiation and different altitude could reveal some interesting things.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
The RF radiation that the phone produces is way lower in frequency than gamma. It is non ionizing, unlike gamma. Non ionizing radiation produces no chemical reactions and wont directly cause mutations as gamma would.
When someone starts twitching the phone sends out an alert to all within range.
FTA: "There’s an old story about an old photojournalist who, when asked his opinion about the best camera, said the “one you have on you”. The same might also be said for radiation detectors."
This might be a fair radon detector, maybe? Time will surely tell, methinx.
The data would exist on 1000s of private sensors, so it would be useless in the aggregate. Or are you advocating seizure of the devices and data in the name of sum public good?
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.