Skip to main content

Are X-rays Safe?

By
X-rays pass through our flesh and organs. The large calcium molecules that make up our skeleton block the path of x-rays. This results in the negative image seen here
X-rays pass through our flesh and organs. The large calcium molecules that make up our skeleton block the path of x-rays. This results in the negative image seen here 

•Did you know that falling out of bed kills 450 people a year in the US. 

•Ants claim another 30 lives and vending machines kill around 13 people; Safety is a relative term.

•An x-ray is a form of high energy radiation with a wavelength about 10,000 times shorter than that of visible light. 

•The danger with x-rays is that they can knock electrons away from atoms, creating ions; this is why x-rays are called 'ionising radiation'. 

•Ions are much more reactive than atoms and can shoot about your body damaging important molecules like DNA. 

•This can cause mutation, or even cancer, if the dose is high enough.

•But that is the key - 'if the dose is high enough.' 

•The increase in radiation your body receives during an x-ray is equivalent to the extra radiation you are exposed to during a trans-atlantic flight.

•Medical x-rays are now very safe (the technician is in greater danger than you are due to the frequency of possible exposure), and much safer than being cut open every time a doctor needs to look inside you.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

HOW CAN WE MOTIVATE OURSELVES MORE EFFECTIVELY THROUGH REINFORCEMENT?

By
•We'd all like to be more effective in reaching our goals, and according to behaviorists, the way to improve our effectiveness is by rewarding ourselves for the little steps that take us closer and closer to those desirable outcomes.  •First, find something you really like to do or something you'd like to have that can, realistically, serve as a reward.  •Then, take the goal that you are hoping to achieve that, realistically, you could achieve but just haven't succeeded at yet.  •Next, work backward from that goal to your present state.  •Arrange to give yourself those desired rewards as you inch closer from where you are now to the desired end point.  •As you start to make progress, only give yourself a reward when you've moved forward from where you are now.  •For example, if you'd like to cut back on your television watching and instead read more often, reward yourself by allowing yourself to watch television only when you've read for 20 minutes,
Post a Comment
Read more

15 Did You Know Fact that will surprise you

By
1) Did you know that this colourful little chap is the Costa Rican Variable Harlequin toad aka the Clown frog. 2) Did you know that the Karni Mata Hindu Temple in Rajasthan, India, is also known as the Temple of Rats. The temple is famous for the approximately 25,000 revered black rats that live there. Visitors play with and feed the rats and even sometimes drink from the same milk and eat the same food. 3) Did you know that vanilla flavoring is sometimes made with the urine of beavers. 4) Did you know that Botox is made from botulinium toxin which is considered the most deadly substance in the World as half a pound would be enough to wipe out the entire World population. Almost all the Botox in use throughout the World is made in one single factory in Ireland. 5) Did you know that tuna swim at a continuous steady rate of about 14km per hour for their whole life until they die. Whilst alive they never stop moving as if they stop they are unab
Post a Comment
Read more

WHY DO WE SLEEP AND DREAM?

By
•We spend about one-third of our lives sleeping.  •Why do we invest so much time in sleep?  •The most straight forward answer is that, sleep is restorative, and it replenishes the body's energy stores.  •However, intense neural activity during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the stage in which most dreams occur, suggests there may be more to the story.  •One theory, which by far has the largest body of evidence, is that sleep plays a critical role in learning and consolidating memories.  •It is probably why infants and toddlers need up to 14 hours of sleep a day, with half of it spent in REM sleep.  •In adults, dreams may also play a role in brain plasticity and learning, which is why sleep-deprived adults perform worse in memory tests and tasks. 
Post a Comment
Read more