[kwlug-disc] To WIFI or not to WIFI

[Khalid Baheyeldin]

I think I know why the experiment that Jason mentioned is confusing.

Short version: it is a combination of ambiguous terminology and scammy eBay
sellers exploiting that.

Long version:

If you go to eBay, and search for "dosimeter", you will see relatively
cheap devices, like this <https://www.ebay.ca/itm/394231462289> or this
<https://www.ebay.ca/itm/284352318543>.
Some have "Geiger" in their description, and all have the term "radiation"
too.

But if you look at the units that the device measures, it is all electric
(volts) or magnetic (tesla).
So, basically, these are measuring radiation as in "electromagnetic
radiation", not "nuclear radiation".

Compare both of the above to a proper radioactive dosimeter, and you see
different units (uSv), like this <https://www.ebay.ca/itm/403612948319>.
That is a measure of radioactivity, not electric or magnetic.

And here is a video <https://youtu.be/86fNuifmBbc> where someone shows the
difference between the scammy Geigers and true ones.

As I mentioned before, radiation that is ionizing within the
electromagnetic spectrum is either UV, X-Ray, or Gamma rays.
Other ionizing sources are Alpha particles (e.g. radon gas decay), or
Electron beams (beta particles).
We can safely ignore neutrons since they are only produced in nuclear
fission and such, not in every day settings.

The rest of the electromagnetic spectrum, from the visible part and below,
are all safe.

Here is a short video by a particle physicist who is also a science
communicator on what is radiation?
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTb_KRG6LXo>
That means nuclear radiation, and Gamma rays.
Also: Is radiation dangerous? <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-hfoDy904E>
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