Tom Vales’ guest Demo, in my opinion, was very eye opening. It is very scary to think that not too long ago, people were using everyday items in our houses that were made with Uranium, a very harmful element with toxic side effects. Uranium was being used in everything back then and was causing radiation poisoning. There are two different forms of Uranium which are U-235 and U-238. What I learned about radioactive elements is that they are constantly decaying and changing chemical elements, and that they are unstable. All radioactive elements will eventually decay into led over time, some decaying faster than others. It takes 4.5 billion years for one pound of U-238 to turn into a half of a pound of U-238 and give off radiation. There are 3 types of radioactivity. There is the Alpha particle, with a helium nucleus, 2 protons and 2 neutrons. Then there’s the Beta particle which has 1 electron. And then there is the Gamma Ray which has no mass and no charge.
Tom brought in some Geiger counters. Geiger counters are used for measuring ionizing radiation. He brought in some examples of everyday items that people used back in the day such as pocket watches, candle holders, flower vases and fiesta bowls. All of the items were surprisingly very reactive. Just by touching these items can be harmful to the body over time.
Items are not being used with Uranium anymore (I would hope), but still today many things can give off radiation. Radiation is around us all the time. Earth has always been radioactive. The natural radioactivity in the environment is just about the same today as it was at the beginning of the Neolithic Age more than 10,000 years ago. The water we drink, the food we eat and the air we breathe all contain radioactive elements that occur naturally. People in higher elevations of the world get more cosmic radiation from the sun than people in lower elevations. There are many different kinds of radiation. Some forms can be beneficial and some can be harmful.