The homemade detectors and scintillators used at Accel Kitchen aren't tools only for cosmic rays. Gamma rays from a radioactive source, natural radioisotopes hidden in rocks — invisible radiation is, in fact, all around us.
Mix a fluorescent dye into clear UV resin and cure your very own scintillator. When radiation strikes it, the inside glows faintly. By making the scintillator yourself, you can build your own original detector from scratch.
For just an instant when radiation strikes a scintillator, a very faint light (scintillation light) is produced. Using a digital camera, the students photographed the scintillation light produced by radiation from sources such as cesium and americium.
Everyday rocks and minerals contain tiny traces of natural radioisotopes. With the cooperation of JAMSTEC, the students used gamma spectroscopy to measure the uranium and thorium in a variety of rocks, including samples from deep-sea hydrothermal vents (chimneys).
Radiation inquiry is one of the themes that grows out of the cosmic-ray inquiry program.
Start by measuring cosmic rays with a detector you build yourself, then follow your curiosity toward the "radiation all around us."
Completely free, with researchers and mentors alongside you the whole way.