We no longer live in a world where there is a constant fear of nuclear attack from places like the Soviet Union as existed in the Cold War. We are no longer taught the seemingly useless ideology of ‘Duck and Cover‘ in schools. Most people probably don’t even know what to do in a nuclear attack.
What we do face is a world where ex-KGB agents are poisoned with rare isotopes and there is an exceedingly minute but ever present danger of a dirty bomb or rouge nuke finding its way into a major city. North Korea and Iran seem to be advancing in the nuclear realm and may well be the Soviets of a new Cold War. Although none of it is something to worry about, it is something that people should think about at least once in while. Maybe as nothing more than a ‘what if,’ but there none the less. Yet I digress.
What is really interesting is how the human body reacts to radiation. Be it the dropping of a nuclear bomb or the ingestion of a little Polonium-210, humans face forces of radiation all around them. Radiation is nothing to be feared, and is a perfectly natural part of our everyday lives, yet it still holds a certain mystique and fear in many people’s minds.
With that I get to the real point of this post. For those of you who have ever wondered what would happen if your were exposed to a large dose of radiation, Healthbolt.net has a very interesting and informative article on the effects of Ionizing Radiation and exposure to it. I know I at least found it interesting.
But in the scenarios we mentioned above, you could get dosed with ~100,000 mrem within a 24-hour period (possibly much shorter). This is very bad.
- Instantly: You?ll probably throw up. The gastrointestinal system is extremely sensitive to radiation at this level.
- Within 30 Seconds: Disorientation sets in. This can last for minutes or hours. It is due to the radiation?s effect on your central nervous system.
Check out the full article over at Healthbolt.net