 My name is Kevin Conley. I'm an instructor at Foresight Tech, and I'd like to give you the next lecture on nuclear chemistry, which deals with the harmful effects of nuclear radiation. This really comes in three parts. The first part deals with the mechanism behind which nuclear radiation is bad for human physiology. The second is a graduation or a measurement of these harmful effects. And finally, the methods of protection that we can use to protect ourselves. Now the first thing is that when nuclear radiation does come into contact with a human body, it creates undesirable ions. It can cut DNA. It can cut large molecules. It basically will create these undesirable ions that interact in bad ways, break down cells, and cause problems with cell division. It'll inhibit production of certain enzymes and things inside of the body that should be being produced. But also, cell division is inhibited, specifically with certain types of structures inside the body, such as bone and breast tissue, or very significant sources of difficulties with radiation. And as a result, children are very highly impacted, obviously, with all the growth that occurs with them. In order to detect radiation, one uses a Geiger counter, which is a device that will give you a clicking sound when radiation is detected. And the clicking indicates that there is radiation of some type. So if you turn on a Geiger counter in this room, chances are you would have some type of background radiation. We'll talk about that briefly. And that is not to fear. Finally, people who do work in environments where radiation is created, whether you're working in a medical facility or a research laboratory of some type, will wear badges, identification badges, like you see everywhere, but they will have a special film on them that will receive the radiation so that the person and the facility can find out the background level of radiation inside that facility and make sure it remains at a safe level. Now, we are exposed to a certain amount of radiation in our food, water, and air that is in fact natural. And that amount is way below this 360 MRMS that you get by a single x-ray or a scan. I just want to make it clear that you are exposed to radiation at all times at very, very low levels. And that is safe. When you do get an x-ray or a scan, you're exposed to about 360 MRMS, which is basically OK. They put the big lead on top of you so it does not go to any vital organs. And the other person will go behind the wall, because the person who takes all of these x-rays, they're going to be giving out many, many of these, and they need that additional protection. If you are exposed to 25 REMs through any individual occurrence, you're basically going to be safe, and it's all right. This might be a good time to mention that your REM exposure is rather cumulative. Once you get the REM exposure, it's sort of like an account of yours that continues to go up. Your body doesn't really heal itself from this damage, and that is one of the greatest problems of nuclear radiation exposure. So that if you do get exposed to one of these higher levels, you don't really go backwards. At 100 REMs, you get nausea, fatigue, vomit, and also your white blood count goes down. So the immune system is impacted there directly. This is what's called radiation sickness. Finally, if you are exposed to 500 REMs, that will give you a 50% chance of death. And at 600 REMs, that's it. That is the fatal dose. Finally, the protection. There are three ways that you can deal with protection. First of all, of course, is to keep your distance, because radiation actually means, just like in a bite, the spokes go out radially. The idea is that the radiation goes out radially from the atom or molecule that is in decay, or the nucleus, I'm sorry, that's in decay. So keep your distance is important. Limit your time, and as well, use the proper shielding, whether that's gonna be behind concrete, or whether it's behind lead of some type. Thank you for your attention.