full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Matt Anticole: Is radiation dangerous?


Unscramble the Blue Letters


When we hear the word raiditaon, it's tempting to picture huge explosions and frightening mutations, but that's not the full story. Radiation also applies to rainbows and a doctor einainxmg an x-ray. So what is radiation really, and how much should we worry about its effects? The answer begins with understanding that the word radiation describes two very different sicnfieitc phenomena: electromagnetic radiation and nuclear radiation. Electromagnetic radiation is pure energy cinitonssg of interacting electrical and magnetic waves oscillating through space. As these wevas oscillate faster, they scale up in energy. At the lower end of the spectrum, there's radio, infrared, and visible light. At the higher end are ultraviolet, X-ray, and gmmaa rays. Modern society is shaped by sending and detecting electromagnetic radiation. We might download an email to our phone via radio waves to open an image of an X-ray print, which we can see because our screen eimts vibslie light. Nuclear radiation, on the other hand, originates in the atomic nucleus, where protons repel each other due to their mutually positive charges. A pmoheeonnn known as the strong ncauelr force sgtuelrgs to overcome this repulsion and keep the nucleus intact. However, some combinations of protons and neutrons, known as itsopeos, remain unstable, or rcvaoiditae. They will randomly eject metatr and/or energy, known as nuclear radiation, to achieve greater stability. Nuclear radiation comes from nutaral sources, like radon, a gas which spees up from the ground. We also refine naturally occurring radioactive ores to fuel nuclear power plants. Even bananas contain trace amounts of a radioactive potassium isotope. So if we live in a world of radiation, how can we escape its dangerous effects? To start, not all radiation is hazardous. Radiation becomes rsiky when it rips atoms' electrons away upon impact, a process that can damage DNA. This is known as inniziog radiation because an atom that has lost or gained electrons is called an ion. All nuclear radiation is ionizing, while only the highest energy electromagnetic radiation is. That includes gamma rays, X-rays, and the high-energy end of utlielvroat. That's why as an extra pireotuacn during X-rays, doctors shield body ptars they don't need to enmaixe, and why beach-goers use sunscreen. In comparison, cell phones and microwaves optreae at the lower end of the spectrum, so there is no risk of ionizing radiation from their use. The biggest health risk occurs when lots of ionizing radiation hits us in a short time pioerd, also known as an acute exposure. atuce exposures overwhelm the body's natural atlibiy to repair the damage. This can teigrgr cancers, cellular dysfunction, and potentially even death. Fortunately, acute exposures are rare, but we are eseopxd daily to lower levels of ionizing radiation from both natural and man-made sources. Scientists have a harder time quantifying these risks. Your body often rpeiras damage from slmal amounts ionizing radiation, and if it can't, the results of damage may not mniseaft for a decade or more. One way sctietniss compare ionizing radiation exposure is a unit called the sievert. An acute exposure to one sievert will probably cause nausea within hours, and four sieverts could be fatal. However, our normal dilay exposures are far lower. The average person receives 6.2 millisieverts of radiation from all sources annually, around a third due to radon. At only five microsieverts each, you'd need to get more than 1200 dental X-rays to rack up your annual dosage. And remember that banana? If you could abosrb all the banana's radiation, you'd need around 170 a day to hit your annual dosage. We live in a world of radiation. However, much of that radiation is non-ionizing. For the remainder that is ionizing, our exposures are usually low, and choices like getting your home tested for raodn and wearing sunscreen can help reduce the associated heltah rsiks. Marie Curie, one of the early radiation pioneers, summed up the challenge as follows: "Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."

Open Cloze


When we hear the word _________, it's tempting to picture huge explosions and frightening mutations, but that's not the full story. Radiation also applies to rainbows and a doctor _________ an x-ray. So what is radiation really, and how much should we worry about its effects? The answer begins with understanding that the word radiation describes two very different __________ phenomena: electromagnetic radiation and nuclear radiation. Electromagnetic radiation is pure energy __________ of interacting electrical and magnetic waves oscillating through space. As these _____ oscillate faster, they scale up in energy. At the lower end of the spectrum, there's radio, infrared, and visible light. At the higher end are ultraviolet, X-ray, and _____ rays. Modern society is shaped by sending and detecting electromagnetic radiation. We might download an email to our phone via radio waves to open an image of an X-ray print, which we can see because our screen _____ _______ light. Nuclear radiation, on the other hand, originates in the atomic nucleus, where protons repel each other due to their mutually positive charges. A __________ known as the strong _______ force _________ to overcome this repulsion and keep the nucleus intact. However, some combinations of protons and neutrons, known as ________, remain unstable, or ___________. They will randomly eject ______ and/or energy, known as nuclear radiation, to achieve greater stability. Nuclear radiation comes from _______ sources, like radon, a gas which _____ up from the ground. We also refine naturally occurring radioactive ores to fuel nuclear power plants. Even bananas contain trace amounts of a radioactive potassium isotope. So if we live in a world of radiation, how can we escape its dangerous effects? To start, not all radiation is hazardous. Radiation becomes _____ when it rips atoms' electrons away upon impact, a process that can damage DNA. This is known as ________ radiation because an atom that has lost or gained electrons is called an ion. All nuclear radiation is ionizing, while only the highest energy electromagnetic radiation is. That includes gamma rays, X-rays, and the high-energy end of ___________. That's why as an extra __________ during X-rays, doctors shield body _____ they don't need to _______, and why beach-goers use sunscreen. In comparison, cell phones and microwaves _______ at the lower end of the spectrum, so there is no risk of ionizing radiation from their use. The biggest health risk occurs when lots of ionizing radiation hits us in a short time ______, also known as an acute exposure. _____ exposures overwhelm the body's natural _______ to repair the damage. This can _______ cancers, cellular dysfunction, and potentially even death. Fortunately, acute exposures are rare, but we are _______ daily to lower levels of ionizing radiation from both natural and man-made sources. Scientists have a harder time quantifying these risks. Your body often _______ damage from _____ amounts ionizing radiation, and if it can't, the results of damage may not ________ for a decade or more. One way __________ compare ionizing radiation exposure is a unit called the sievert. An acute exposure to one sievert will probably cause nausea within hours, and four sieverts could be fatal. However, our normal _____ exposures are far lower. The average person receives 6.2 millisieverts of radiation from all sources annually, around a third due to radon. At only five microsieverts each, you'd need to get more than 1200 dental X-rays to rack up your annual dosage. And remember that banana? If you could ______ all the banana's radiation, you'd need around 170 a day to hit your annual dosage. We live in a world of radiation. However, much of that radiation is non-ionizing. For the remainder that is ionizing, our exposures are usually low, and choices like getting your home tested for _____ and wearing sunscreen can help reduce the associated ______ _____. Marie Curie, one of the early radiation pioneers, summed up the challenge as follows: "Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."

Solution


  1. risky
  2. consisting
  3. phenomenon
  4. risks
  5. ultraviolet
  6. seeps
  7. ability
  8. scientific
  9. scientists
  10. daily
  11. health
  12. ionizing
  13. acute
  14. isotopes
  15. examining
  16. radiation
  17. visible
  18. matter
  19. period
  20. radioactive
  21. examine
  22. precaution
  23. natural
  24. manifest
  25. emits
  26. struggles
  27. absorb
  28. operate
  29. radon
  30. parts
  31. exposed
  32. repairs
  33. waves
  34. small
  35. gamma
  36. nuclear
  37. trigger

Original Text


When we hear the word radiation, it's tempting to picture huge explosions and frightening mutations, but that's not the full story. Radiation also applies to rainbows and a doctor examining an x-ray. So what is radiation really, and how much should we worry about its effects? The answer begins with understanding that the word radiation describes two very different scientific phenomena: electromagnetic radiation and nuclear radiation. Electromagnetic radiation is pure energy consisting of interacting electrical and magnetic waves oscillating through space. As these waves oscillate faster, they scale up in energy. At the lower end of the spectrum, there's radio, infrared, and visible light. At the higher end are ultraviolet, X-ray, and gamma rays. Modern society is shaped by sending and detecting electromagnetic radiation. We might download an email to our phone via radio waves to open an image of an X-ray print, which we can see because our screen emits visible light. Nuclear radiation, on the other hand, originates in the atomic nucleus, where protons repel each other due to their mutually positive charges. A phenomenon known as the strong nuclear force struggles to overcome this repulsion and keep the nucleus intact. However, some combinations of protons and neutrons, known as isotopes, remain unstable, or radioactive. They will randomly eject matter and/or energy, known as nuclear radiation, to achieve greater stability. Nuclear radiation comes from natural sources, like radon, a gas which seeps up from the ground. We also refine naturally occurring radioactive ores to fuel nuclear power plants. Even bananas contain trace amounts of a radioactive potassium isotope. So if we live in a world of radiation, how can we escape its dangerous effects? To start, not all radiation is hazardous. Radiation becomes risky when it rips atoms' electrons away upon impact, a process that can damage DNA. This is known as ionizing radiation because an atom that has lost or gained electrons is called an ion. All nuclear radiation is ionizing, while only the highest energy electromagnetic radiation is. That includes gamma rays, X-rays, and the high-energy end of ultraviolet. That's why as an extra precaution during X-rays, doctors shield body parts they don't need to examine, and why beach-goers use sunscreen. In comparison, cell phones and microwaves operate at the lower end of the spectrum, so there is no risk of ionizing radiation from their use. The biggest health risk occurs when lots of ionizing radiation hits us in a short time period, also known as an acute exposure. Acute exposures overwhelm the body's natural ability to repair the damage. This can trigger cancers, cellular dysfunction, and potentially even death. Fortunately, acute exposures are rare, but we are exposed daily to lower levels of ionizing radiation from both natural and man-made sources. Scientists have a harder time quantifying these risks. Your body often repairs damage from small amounts ionizing radiation, and if it can't, the results of damage may not manifest for a decade or more. One way scientists compare ionizing radiation exposure is a unit called the sievert. An acute exposure to one sievert will probably cause nausea within hours, and four sieverts could be fatal. However, our normal daily exposures are far lower. The average person receives 6.2 millisieverts of radiation from all sources annually, around a third due to radon. At only five microsieverts each, you'd need to get more than 1200 dental X-rays to rack up your annual dosage. And remember that banana? If you could absorb all the banana's radiation, you'd need around 170 a day to hit your annual dosage. We live in a world of radiation. However, much of that radiation is non-ionizing. For the remainder that is ionizing, our exposures are usually low, and choices like getting your home tested for radon and wearing sunscreen can help reduce the associated health risks. Marie Curie, one of the early radiation pioneers, summed up the challenge as follows: "Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
ionizing radiation 5
electromagnetic radiation 4
nuclear radiation 3
visible light 2
acute exposure 2
acute exposures 2
annual dosage 2



Important Words


  1. ability
  2. absorb
  3. achieve
  4. acute
  5. amounts
  6. annual
  7. annually
  8. answer
  9. applies
  10. atom
  11. atomic
  12. average
  13. banana
  14. bananas
  15. begins
  16. biggest
  17. body
  18. called
  19. cancers
  20. cell
  21. cellular
  22. challenge
  23. charges
  24. choices
  25. combinations
  26. compare
  27. comparison
  28. consisting
  29. curie
  30. daily
  31. damage
  32. dangerous
  33. day
  34. death
  35. decade
  36. dental
  37. describes
  38. detecting
  39. dna
  40. doctor
  41. doctors
  42. dosage
  43. download
  44. due
  45. dysfunction
  46. early
  47. effects
  48. eject
  49. electrical
  50. electromagnetic
  51. electrons
  52. email
  53. emits
  54. energy
  55. escape
  56. examine
  57. examining
  58. explosions
  59. exposed
  60. exposure
  61. exposures
  62. extra
  63. faster
  64. fatal
  65. fear
  66. feared
  67. force
  68. fortunately
  69. frightening
  70. fuel
  71. full
  72. gained
  73. gamma
  74. gas
  75. greater
  76. ground
  77. hand
  78. harder
  79. hazardous
  80. health
  81. hear
  82. higher
  83. highest
  84. hit
  85. hits
  86. home
  87. hours
  88. huge
  89. image
  90. impact
  91. includes
  92. infrared
  93. intact
  94. interacting
  95. ion
  96. ionizing
  97. isotope
  98. isotopes
  99. levels
  100. life
  101. light
  102. live
  103. lost
  104. lots
  105. magnetic
  106. manifest
  107. marie
  108. matter
  109. microsieverts
  110. microwaves
  111. millisieverts
  112. modern
  113. mutations
  114. mutually
  115. natural
  116. naturally
  117. nausea
  118. neutrons
  119. normal
  120. nuclear
  121. nucleus
  122. occurring
  123. occurs
  124. open
  125. operate
  126. ores
  127. originates
  128. oscillate
  129. oscillating
  130. overcome
  131. overwhelm
  132. parts
  133. period
  134. person
  135. phenomenon
  136. phone
  137. phones
  138. picture
  139. pioneers
  140. plants
  141. positive
  142. potassium
  143. potentially
  144. power
  145. precaution
  146. print
  147. process
  148. protons
  149. pure
  150. quantifying
  151. rack
  152. radiation
  153. radio
  154. radioactive
  155. radon
  156. rainbows
  157. randomly
  158. rare
  159. rays
  160. receives
  161. reduce
  162. refine
  163. remain
  164. remainder
  165. remember
  166. repair
  167. repairs
  168. repel
  169. repulsion
  170. results
  171. rips
  172. risk
  173. risks
  174. risky
  175. scale
  176. scientific
  177. scientists
  178. screen
  179. seeps
  180. sending
  181. shaped
  182. shield
  183. short
  184. sievert
  185. sieverts
  186. small
  187. society
  188. sources
  189. space
  190. spectrum
  191. stability
  192. start
  193. story
  194. strong
  195. struggles
  196. summed
  197. sunscreen
  198. tempting
  199. tested
  200. time
  201. trace
  202. trigger
  203. ultraviolet
  204. understand
  205. understanding
  206. understood
  207. unit
  208. unstable
  209. visible
  210. waves
  211. wearing
  212. word
  213. world
  214. worry