Cosmic rays From the cosmos Danger, danger! Commentary

Victor Francis Hess physics

Cosmic rays

• If ions in our atmosphere
• were created by radioactive minerals,
• then they would become rarer and rarer
• further and further from the surface of the earth.
• Victor Francis Hess
• ascended in balloons
• over three miles up
• to test this hypothesis.
• When his electrometer
• showed that the ionization rate
• gradually diminished
• until passing the altitude of 4900 feet
• when it began to gradually increase
• Hess realized
• previously unknown radiation
• penetrated deep into our atmosphere.

From the cosmos

• High-energy particles
• mostly helium nuclei
• single protons
• are hurled from the Sun,
• hurled from supernovas,
• and hurled from active galactic nuclei
• by strong magnetic fields
• associated with black holes.
• These particles ionize nitrogen and oxygen,
• deplete our protective ozone,
• produce a fairly constant supply of carbon-14,
• and other radioactive isotopes—
• tritium, beryllium-7,
• sodium-24, magnesium-28,
• silicon-32, phosphorus-32,
• sulphur-38, chlorine-39, argon-39,
• and krypton-81 and 85.
• Few of these effects
• are particularly good for us.
• Slippery particles from the cosmos
• cause avalanches of electrons
• that trigger lightning strikes.
• Careening particles from the cosmos
• alter the states of elements in our computers
• to cause random errors.
• Fierce particles from the cosmos
• are responsible for an unlucky thirteen percent
• of the background radiation on Earth,
• causing genetic mutations
• and ten percent of our cancers.

Danger, danger!

• Cosmic rays pose a significant risk
• to astronauts and other space travelers.
• Akin to Superman’s Achilles’ heel
• of heroic myth,
• exposure to the fictional derivative
• of krypton, kryptonite,
• paralyzed the most powerful
• and gave cancer to the evil Lex Luthor.
• Even ordinary humans on Earth
• are harmed every day.
• Stress in the workplace
• is more than bad enough.
• Semis jack-knifing on freeways,
• salmonella from unhygienic kitchens,
• are not easily distinguished
• from paranoias
• and hypochondrias,
• but if we learn to live well
• then we learn to ignore inevitable risks.