Word: gamma
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...heat and light, which shoot out from the fire ball a fraction of a second after the explosion. Five miles away, the light glares as brightly as 100 suns; up to half a mile the heat waves sear everything directly in their path. Then, too, comes the flood of gamma rays (nuclear X rays). Trapped at first within the fire ball, these deadly rays burst forth a fraction of a second after the bomb explodes...
...half-mile radius, the gamma rays will be powerful enough, even after penetrating brick or concrete walls two feet thick, to kill or gravely injure people well protected from heat and blast. Beyond the half-mile radius, the rays' deadly power will decrease, gradually at first, then sharply; two miles from the explosion they will be virtually harmless...
...three-quarters of a mile away, 50% of the people exposed may die from gamma radiation, some in a few minutes, some not until weeks later. Of those within a mile and a quarter, many will die or be horribly burned by heat radiation. Within a mile and a half, flying glass, falling masonry and fires will cause many more deaths...
...rear ends of Dr. Strehler's martyred fireflies may serve another purpose too. One of the chief concerns of the Oak Ridge laboratory is radiation sickness, the damage that atomic-age radiation (mostly gamma rays) does to living tissues. This damage is not mere "burning"; it is chiefly due to subtle chemical changes produced within the cells. When chemists have a better understanding of the relation of light to life, they stand a better chance of protecting atomic-age humans against gamma rays, which are "ultra-high-frequency light...
...Near Ashtabula, Ohio, eight Youngstown College Phi Gamma pledges were marooned overnight on a breakwater 100 yards out in Lake Erie. Coast Guardsmen rescued them, said that if the lake had gotten rough they might have drowned. College officials suspended eleven members and the fraternity's charter...