radiation exposure during an intercontinental flight

[gabigowriel]

Out of curiosity , what are the effects of such doses of radiation on a human body in the long term?

Good video!

[TheDaniel1323]

Did the person sitting beside you punch u a couple of times by mistake

[specterseal999]

How much radiation can human take in before it start damaging our body?

[AngelicNastiness]

I'm glad I'm not a flight attendant anymore.

[AlterEgoTrip]

It seems problematic to compare natural radiation that we have encountered on earth since before humanity has been, to that of Cosmic rays. Do you believe that x-ray airport scanner pushers are justified in repeating these fictions that their scanners are "safer" than a flight on an aero-plane? We do not know the facts about these x-ray scanner machines on the public; even if we see auroras caused by the accelerated particles in the atmosphere, its not the SAME as Cherenkov radiation, right?

[AlterEgoTrip]

What I mean is, to compare natural Cosmic radiation that our atmosphere on a plane to that of x-rays, & even nuclear radiation from accidents, isn't this a problematic comparison considering that the energies are completely different, as well as historically different.

My logic:

Cosmic rays = dawn of existence and pre-humanity.

X-ray radiation, uranium, plutonium = the last [maybe] 200-0 years.

Can you understand my worry about the comparison?

[bionerd23]

@AlterEgoTrip

well, cosmic rays are actually not only gamma and x-radiation, but also protons - they do a lot more damage on the human body than photons. so do the neutrons, which are also part of the cosmic radiation spectrum, but not detectable with the device in this video (actual aequivalent dose would be ~10 uSv/h with neutrons).

[bionerd23]

then again, where does uranium come from? it's in our PLANET, millions of TONS of uranium are in our PLANET, since the beginning of time, emitting alpha, beta and gamma radiation - alpha radiation and high energy protons are not exactly comparable, but both have a higher radiation weighting factor than photons, and alpha radiation comes from the decay of uranium - (cont)

[bionerd23]

uranium, which is natural and abundant on this planet since the very beginning of earth, look it up. it's not manmade. nor is plutonium manmade. look up the "natural reactors" to know more.

[AlterEgoTrip]

@bionerd23 thank you for your response. So you are saying that even within the protection of our upper atmosphere, that its still quite nasty with radiation of the accelerated particles...with uranium, the concentration of the material normally doesn't seem AS problematic and yet we know that radon accumulates within stone basements making for a concentration an inescapable bombardment.. which is associated with lung cancers. I also note that there are variations of protons released even hourly.

[adler3008]

If the radioactivity comes from the sun is it not better to fly at night?

[bionerd23]

@adler3008

not really. the high energy radiation gets "pulled" to the poles by the magnetic field. the same stuff happens at night, basically. wikipedia for "aurora borealis". the amount of protection the globe would provide would be minor compared to the amount that still reaches you.

[nodesnetwork]

I wonder if pilots and stewardesses have a higher cancer rate than people who stay on the ground.

[McPrfctday]

Where did you go? I always called "The Land of The Midnight Sun" as north of Norway... or Lapland.

[yellowmetalcyborg]

Would this be a rare circumstance where a scintillation counter wouldn't give as accurate a reading as a geiger tube?

Cosmic radiation is mostly muons, protons and alpha particles, which with the exception of alpha particles wouldn't affect a scintillator crystal. You should have brought both meters to compare. People will give you strange looks if you do that though....

[bionerd23]

@yellowmetalcyborg

alpha particles? how would that get into a plane? hmm. but, not sure what high-energy protons do to a scintillator; good question. indeed, would've been ideal to bring both meters, but hardly practical - the CDV 700 is huge and contains a radioactive check source, which would've caused quite a stir.

[dileepvr]

How did they allow you to carry that on a plane?

[josh2utube]

Poor pilots...

[orbnaes]

Do you receive more radiation if your on a mountain?

[bionerd23]

@orbnaes

simply, yes.

[NoWattz]

I've always read that highest cosmic radiation exposures occur over the poles. Were you able to notice any significantly higher levels near the polar regions vs lower latitudes? How much explaining did you have to do to get the TSA to allow you to bring your gamma scout on the aircraft and then let you actually use it in the cabin during the flight???

[bionerd23]

@NoWattz

i couldnt really tell, as altitude also increased as we went over the poles; thus, sadly, the data for over the poles radiation is spoiled by varying altitudes. it should be higher over the poles, though, due to the same phenomenon that causes aurora borealis. ;)

no explaining needed for TSA due to social engineering. physics student doing doctorate on cosmic radiation. spam them with a lot of terminology, they'll kindly ask you to move along.

[bionerd23]

@altradude

that'd be almost useless. cosmic rays are of very high energy, and you'd need SO much lead to shield a significant amount, the sheer weight of the lead will rip your balls off if you stand up.

[altradude]

@bionerd23 I guess I'll have to put some wheels on it ;-)

[liOVERLOADil]

If someone where in an aircraft at that same altitude, during a solar event, would it possible to receive a high enough dosage of radiation which would cause radiation sickness?

[bionerd23]

@liOVERLOADil

nope, not at these altitudes. it'd be a significantly higher exposure, but not enough to induce radiation sickness. in SPACE (outside of our atmosphere), however, such an event may be deadly if an astronaut was to e.g. do repairworks on the outside of a space station during a massive solar flare.

[vk2zay]

Excellent video, I've always wanted to do this experiment myself but was worried my mylar window tubes might not like the pressure changes... Will eventually build a little logging dosimeter and take it everywhere with me, probably based on a photodiode and a scintillator.

[bionerd23]

@vk2zay

the pressure change is not all that bad within the cabin. however, i wouldnt just place a mylar-windowed GM-tube inside my check-in luggage, as the pressure difference in the luggage area may indeed break it if no precautions are taken.

[kuli1111]

@bionerd23 An accident in Fukushima could have some effect on radioactivity in the upper part of the atmosphere what do you think?

[bionerd23]

@kuli1111

not sure if it would be measurable (unless really VERY severe), and especially i dont know if it'd go all THAT high up... maybe xenon etc. do, but I-131? hmmm... not sure. but sure, radioactive particles from fukushima spread all around the globe...

[nodariel]

I wonder how linear the realtionship between altittude and radiation levels is.

[Magicjeffff]

holy crap!!

[orbnaes]

What are you doing in the US? Anything cool?

[Azyashi]

Nice to see another video!

[sleat]

Damn your luck! Coming into SFO from Australia like I always do, never get to see Greenland OR the Aurora Borealis! But I still get all the radiation bonus, since we cruise so high. I hope soon you'll post some video of the toys you went there to play with!

[AScannerClearly]

Way awesome, such radioactive skies! And the midnight sun + aurora must have truly been amazing to see!

[nemodot]

I imagine you measuring radiation while showering. You take that thing everywhere!

[bionerd23]

@nemodot

it's not waterproof. :P

[antiprotons]

Wow! Your video put my airplane article to shame! Great job! I got about 350 CPM from my crm100 at 36000 feet.

[tankmdg]

i love your brain and accent :)

[TheChemlife]

have you ever worked with high levels of neutron radiation?

[bionerd23]

@TheChemlife

define "high levels"? i played with a fusor outputting 10^6 to 10^7 neutrons/second. video coming during next days.

[TheChemlife]

@bionerd23 that's exactly what i meant. i've been working on a fusor for more than a year now and expect neutrons in the next few months.

[nucleochemist]

Very nice video!

[LibertyTreeBud]

Thank you for the information. More than the reporters of the media have ever bothered to inform us of. You did a good job.

[mike240se]

u came to the us?

[catkittenlove]

Thank you very much for this video!! It was really super interesting!!

[Phacias]

FINALLY BACK!

On your knees sinners! A miracle! :)

[sn1pe352]

I really enjoy your curiousness, the way you explain everything as well

keep up the great work, you could make aids sound cool :D

[gnazkull]

what were you doing in amsterdam o.O

[jono501]

if i wear tin foil around my head and balls on a plane, will it protect from radiation?? please help, i changed my mind, i wanna go plane again....

[jono501]

I dont get planes no more. The radiation was frying my brains and my balls. That shit aint worth it mannn............

[Valendros]

Who the heck let you take a Geiger counter on a plane when I can't even take a pair of nail clippers! lame...

[isashach]

Well that's why high end cameras get damaged if transported by plane…

BTW, really interesting info. Might go to chernobyl next week ;).

[inesis]

What is the maximum dose allowed per year for the airplane crew ? 1 or 20 mSv/year ?

[bionerd23]

@inesis

should be 20 mSv/a, like for everybody else working in "radioactive environments". :P

[Magicjeffff]

@inesis you wonder what the ratio of healthy airline crew vs. cancer filled crew (by the time they retire) is...

[inesis]

@Magicjeffff If we assume that a crew member works 30-40 years in a plane, 40 hours a week with no holiday in a environment with 1.5 to 2.5 uSv/h I obtained doses between 93 mSv and 200 mSv. These kind of doses, absorbed during 30 to 40 years, will not increase significantly the cancer risk. So no, I am not worried to fly with a cancer filled crew :)

[crnazvijezda]

Did you register the dose that you received during the flight?

[bionerd23]

@crnazvijezda

well, i could calculate it from the data i recorded, yeah.

[Magicjeffff]

@bionerd23 i wonder if you could sue the airline company for exposing you to those levels XD

[crnazvijezda]

@bionerd23 This video is beautiful example for cosmic radiation dose you get during the transatlantic flight.

You've hit the topic from real life for your video clip. Just continue. I follow yours creations and I like it.

[10mintwo]

Hey what are you doing in America?

[MrMegacurie]

that is really good work - impressive! going to San Francisco or to the doctor - you never miss your gammascout :-D

[samol1234567890]

Thanks for the video.

Is it a new gamma scout or did you updated your old one to have a 4 digits reading ?

[bionerd23]

@samol1234567890

it's the new version; now accurate to nanosieverts, and comes with a rechargable battery (simply plug in to USB to charge accu); also, the memory is much larger, can log approx. 5 days on 10 seconds logging interval. i gotta admit they *did* make some good improvements!

[samol1234567890]

@bionerd23

Thanks,

That's some good improvements indeed.

(especially the logging capacity which was quite ridiculous on the old one !)

[bionerd23]

@samol1234567890

oh, and should mention it is calibrated for 1000 uSv/h measurements again (finally... crashed with that in the old version...), and can easily handle 2-3 mSv/h without flickering or crashing. guess this stable version draws more current now, but as it is rechargable, who cares.

downside: buttons are still a bit bad / dont react promptly sometimes, and GM-tube is still not shielded on all sides, so even with "gamma only" window, betas can pass on the bottom through plastic.

[xdoctorEQx]

thanks bionerd - love your direct, informative vids.

~doctorEQ (dot com)

[bionerd23]

hey, weird. on the video page, it says this video is still being processed; however, you can view this video just fine from my CHANNEL PAGE. interesting... damn you, tube.

[Wid552]

@bionerd23 I was just about say that. lol

[SuperFinGuy]

@bionerd23 I was cursing at my browser because I thought it wasn't refreshing the video page. Curse youtube!

So nice to see how up above there is much electromagnetic phenomena going on.

[bionerd23]

@SuperFinGuy

and not just that. just think of the awesome high-energy protons, for example! =)

[SuperFinGuy]

@bionerd23 Now I am thinking it is like an electro dance club.

[kivanctube]

At this time, we request that all mobile phones, pagers, radios , remote controlled toys AND GEIGER COUNTERS TO be turned off for the full duration of the flight, as these items might interfere with the navigational and communication equipment on this aircraft...

Thanks for the video, where have you been??

[bionerd23]

@kivanctube

lol, geiger counters do not emit any kind of radiation that may interfere with stuff - unlike mobile phones. if you're that concerned, i hope you removed the battery from your wrist watch last time you were flying in order to turn that off, too, haha. after all, it's an electronic device in most cases nowadays!

[kivanctube]

@bionerd23 But I am , I remove my wrist watch, Geiger counter and my socks when I board the airplane.

I was just kidding. Anyways I love watching your videos please post more. If you are spending too much time with post production pen, paper and goofy pictures are ok too :)