How Radiation Changes Your DNA

Radiation is all around us and a part of everyday life. But what exactly is it and what does it do to our bodies?

Watch the premiere of Life After: Chernobyl, Tuesday, April 26 at 10/9c on Animal Planet!

Read More:
Non-Ionizing Radiation
"Non-ionizing radiation is described as a series of energy waves composed of oscillating electric and magnetic fields traveling at the speed of light. Non-ionizing radiation includes the spectrum of ultraviolet (UV), visible light, infrared (IR), microwave (MW), radio frequency (RF), and extremely low frequency (ELF). Lasers commonly operate in the UV, visible, and IR frequencies."

Radiation Therapy- National Cancer Institute
"Radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy) is a cancer treatment that uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and stop them from spreading. At low doses, radiation is used as an x-ray to see inside your body and take pictures, such as x-rays of your teeth or broken bones. Radiation used in cancer treatment works in much the same way, except that it is given at higher doses."

How Does Nuclear Radiation Harm the Body?
"There's been some reported evidence that radioactive iodine and cesium are being released into the environment from the malfunctioning nuclear reactors in Japan, said Kathryn Higley, director of the Oregon State University department of nuclear engineering and radiation health physics."
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[itaytabib]

it obviously lowers your max health duh

[MelinaHristova]

Watches Chernobyl once... Becomes Nuclear Physicist through YouTube

[reapzdeatth]

I live in Chernobyl I'm exposed to radiation all the time and im completely fine
No mutations at all I have
1 head
2 arms
2 legs
2 penises

[mammammammam]

Finally a video telling how radiation actually affects your body and not only telling the symptoms.

[frozeneternity]

"Radiation is everywhere"
and here I thought that Love was everywhere :(

[v_kondenko]

Who else came here after watching Chernobyl by HBO? More curious about how radiation works than the plot of the show lol.

[Shadowmythx]

Take some Radaway and pop some Rad X and I'm good!

[Naijiri.]

I guess you could say, this is radical.

[finnbazz]

How do Super Mutants have no match against the settlements that need your help.

[mustafaa.]

I was looking for an answer for how rediation actually harms you for months!
Finally you said that it overloads the atom with energy and causes the weakest electron to pop off, so this causes ionization.
Thank you

[JoshuaYoung]

Can you do a piece about how cosmic radiation affects different metals in space?

[TLNN]

I am a physics teacher, and I clicked on this video thinking that maybe it will explain HOW RADIATION CHANGES YOUR DNA, yet, almost 95% of the video has nothing to do with it.
I like how it made something really simple sounds so complicated...

[dannyrutter]

I'm going to make a spider watch this video, then I'll get the spider to bite me. and hopefully according to this guy ill become spiderman or just end up in hospital

[Weaponsandstuff]

Gamma rays can pass through lead, just not very efficiently.

[coffeepot]

I like how calm trace is in this video while talking about radiation ..
..Sounds like ghoulish behavior to me!

[Ayan]

So that means mobile phone and wi-fi radiations aren't bad?

[helpinghanddiy]

one of the best explanation i found on youtube.. thanks

[sleepysartorialist]

Was never afraid of it, I just prefer to limit my exposure.

[bebongsaputalochannel]

A dose of 5 Sv (5 Gy) is considered approximately the LD50 (lethal dose for 50% of exposed population) for an acute exposure to radiation even with standard medical treatment. A dose higher than 5 Sv (5 Gy) brings an increasing chance of death above 50%

[boycotgugle]

03:05 "gamma rays may pass through you, aluminum, concrete... but not lead, it's too dense"
Nonsense alert!
A single layer of Pb (lead) atoms will barely stop gamma rays, while a few dozen meters of water or concrete will reduce them by a good margin. It's obviously not only the choice of material (magical lead...?), but it is merely the total number of electrons encountered by the ray along its path, each providing an individual chance of reflection or absorption. That's why stuff with lots of electrons per volume (i.e. per atom, so heavier elements are best; low distance between atoms = high density, also good) are chosen, but thickness of the barrier being at least as important. Bunkers or safe rooms under several meters of earth work fine, as recommended during the cold war. When constructing above ground, lead needs less space and thus is preferred. However, gold would be a little better still, and look much nicer... Wait a minute, uranium is pretty dense and heavy, too, let's use that xD xD