GeigerCounter
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Toshiba's radiation spotting camera means the end of 'nuclear hotspot hide and seek'
Toshiba's developed a camera that will take the guesswork out of finding radiation hotspots. Since the deadly particles / waves gather together in clumps, cleanup crews have to hunt around blind using geiger counters. The "Portable Gamma Camera" overlays data from a radiation sensor onto a live picture -- areas shaded with red pixels have high radiation, yellow and green is medium and blue is low. Simply point it where you think the trouble is and it'll show you exactly where to avoid. A prototype was used during the initial stages of the Fukushima cleanup and this model's around half the size and it can even run on batteries -- giving you three hours of lifesaving radiation detection.
Arduino geiger counter brings open source radiation detection to the geeky masses (video)
Need to detect radiation? We sure hope not -- but if you're looking for a straight-forward, altogether geeky geiger counter, the Libelium gang has your back. En route to the Tokyo Hackerspace as we speak (and believe us, they need it), the Radiation Sensor Board for Arduino is a low-cost alternative to existing devices. It's available now either with a compatible geiger tube for €95 ($135) or without for €65 ($50). Hit up the source link to get started, but not before peeping the thing in action after the break. Is there anything you can't do with Arduino?
TALON robot gets declawed, helps Japan sniff out radiation (video)
Robotics experts at the Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory just taught an old war machine some new tricks, namely radiation detection -- a timely acquisition of knowledge, for sure. Swapping out rocket launchers and machine guns for a suite of radiological sensors, digital cameras, and a GPS device, this modified TALON will be used to map the radiation levels (and create a visual output) surrounding the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The newly modified TALON landed in Japan just last week, joining an existing team of robot helpers already in use in the disaster area, including two additional TALONs equipped with sensors that can identify more than 7500 environmental hazards. Guns for Geiger counters seems like a good trade to us; check the video up top to watch the 'bot try out its treads. [Thanks, John]
iPod meets Geiger Counter
Cue mournful music.In a post apocalyptic world, all iPods will be rendered useless. Except for this one. Imagine the excitement of being the only person on the planet able to listen to music, all the while being notified of exposure to harmful doses of radiation. Cool!Seriously, this is one nice mod. Flickr user JavaMoose took a vintage (and still operational) Geiger counter he had lying around (don't we all have these?), gutted it, modded the case and mounted his iPod inside. Next, he altered the original wand to accommodate iPod's wired remote. Very clever. You can check out his step-by-step Flickr set here. Well done.[Via Engadget]
