Radiation is bad? Wrong.

Many people believe that radiation is bad although they do not know anything about it. As far as I'm concerned, the term 'radiation' has become the black sheep for many health issues, notably cancer and brain damages. In this post I will define what radiation truly is and hopefully you will become more knowledgeable afterwards.

Here is a list of common misconceptions about radiation that one may encounter:
1. Radiation is very bad for one's health, and therefore, mobile phone is bad.
2. Radiation kills.
3. One is not exposed to radiation at this very moment.

By the end of this post, you will be able to distinguish these two caution signs...

and probably laugh at how hilarious and ignorant one of those is.

So let's get started.

What is radiation?
"Radiation" is any process by which energy or waves travel through a medium, or empty space.
(Energy is the ability to do work.) Simply put, the moving of energy is called radiation.

Radiation include: what your eyes see (visible light), what your ears hear (sound waves), microwaves (for heating food), radio waves (which brings in your favorite radio and TV channels), x-rays (for checking bones), our friend the mobile phone and WiFi (the signal actually) and of course, our sunshine.

Hairy Sunshine

The most important fact about radiation is, there are two types of radiation: ionizing and non-ionizing. To put it simply, radiation is like food. The yummy food that everyone loves is non-ionizing radiation, whilst the poisonous food that can potentially make you sick or even kill you is ionizing radiation.

More right, more power. (UV stands in both)

Until now, no adequate research has shown any evidence that non-ionizing radiation is actually bad for us. So, it's safe to call non-ionizing radiations safe. It is bad just because people believe it is. Ever heard of the mind power?

Now you know that everything you see or hear is in fact radiation. What you feel with your sense of touch is also radiation. Your phone is getting warmer in your hands, that's also radiation: heat energy moves from the phone to you. If you see the previous image carefully, you'll realize that the radiation from our vision is in fact stronger than those of our mobile devices. So, why worry? If you're still worried, try turning on your TV with a remote, but cover the front part of the remote with your hand. The TV won't turn on, right? That's because the infrared radiation from the remote can't get past your skin. And radiation from mobile devices is even weaker than that.

Then, is ionizing radiation the bad guy? Well, not entirely.
Ionizing radiation has so much energy, so powerful that it can alter your DNA. This DNA changing process can cause cancer, but the radiation can also help cure cancer by destroying the 'infected' cells. Yes, it's the gamma rays I'm talking about.

It's a double-edged sword

When people are worried about radiation, they actually talk about the ionizing ones. Don't get the term radiation mixed up now. Anywhere you are, as long as you see, hear, sense or touch, radiation occurs.

Radiation is everywhere, every time.

Now that you know, be smart! For using the term radiation incorrectly is not cool :)