/oss/taxonomy/term/2746/all en /oss/article/technology-you-asked/what-tritium-paint <p>In 1957, Edward Shapiro filed a patent for a novel type of “self-luminous paint.” The concept was not new, luminous paints based on radioactive emissions from radium striking a phosphor such as zinc sulfide were introduced in 1917. Watch dials and compasses that glow in the dark proved to be very useful on the front during World War I. After the war, watches and clocks that featured “Undark” paint became popular among the public until it was phased out by the 1960s.</p> Fri, 28 Jan 2022 20:22:13 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9011 at /oss /oss/article/health-and-nutrition/non-smokers-lung-cancer-and-hidden-link <p>The link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer is widely acknowledged. But not everyone who smokes gets lung cancer and not everyone who gets lung cancer is a smoker. How does one contract the so-called non-smoker’s lung cancer? The answer, one might say, is blowing in the wind. And that wind may be blowing a gas called radon.     </p> Fri, 31 Dec 2021 19:08:52 +0000 Nancy Liu-Sullivan, PhD 8970 at /oss /oss/article/videos/right-chemistry-power-polonium <p></p><div class="media-youtube-video media-element file-default media-youtube-1"></div> Mon, 02 Dec 2019 16:21:10 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8014 at /oss /oss/article/you-asked/it-true-banana-radioactive <hr /> <p>Si tu veux lire cet article en français, <a href="https://www.sciencepresse.qc.ca/actualite/detecteur-rumeurs/2018/06/19/non-ne-brillerez-noir-mangez-bananes">cliquez ici!</a></p> Thu, 15 Mar 2018 19:30:00 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 6963 at /oss /oss/article/quackery/radithor <p>It seems hard to believe now, but in the 1930s a “miracle cure” which actually contained radioactive radium was widely promoted in North America by William J.A. Bailey, an ex auto-swindler. Radithor was claimed to “stimulate functional ability, lower metabolism, correct imperfect nutritional processes and eliminate toxic waste.” What it did was poison people. Bailey charged a dollar a day for the product, a staggering amount at the time.</p> Mon, 13 May 2013 16:10:04 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1935 at /oss