What do bananas, smoke alarms, toilets and large granite buildings have in common? They're all sufficiently radioactive to set off detectors. Efforts since 9/11 to prevent the detonation of a dirty ...

Radiation monitoring has long depended on bulky, specialized instruments that are scarce outside hospitals, research labs, and nuclear facilities. Now a wave of research is turning the cameras and ...

A smartphone camera can make you a walking gamma ray detector. Without needing any extra hardware, you could get a warning on your phone when you're approaching potentially harmful levels of gamma ...

A new detector system based on the game 'Tetris' could enable inexpensive, accurate radiation detectors for monitoring nuclear sites. The spread of radioactive isotopes from the Fukushima Daiichi ...

Gamification A new design inspired by Tetris could reduce the cost and boost the accuracy of accurate radiation detectors used for monitoring nuclear sites. (Courtesy: Ella Maru Studio) Inspired by ...

Wireless real-time radiation sensor networks offer the general public and those that work in high radiation areas greater protection against radiation hazards. Combined with real-time localized and ...

Portable radiation imaging systems are making nuclear decontamination and decommissioning tasks less expensive, quicker and safer for workers, as Victoria Anderson Matthew explains Ready for ...

A lighthouse is built to shed light on rocky waters, the light turning at the top of a tower to illuminate sections of a dark shoreline that might harm incoming boats. Researchers from Los Alamos ...

In our Weekly Innovation series, we pick an interesting idea, design or product that you may not have heard of yet. Do you have an innovation to share? Use our form. A smartphone camera can make you a ...