November 8th is National STEM Day! In honor of one of the sciences we work in every day, here are some neat facts about Radiation!

1.      Radiation is energy that can travel in waves or particles. Some types of radiation can be seen like visible light, and some cannot like X-rays.

2.     Isotopes of  elements are radioactive, which means they can give off radiation by themselves.

3.      In 1894, Nikola Tesla started looking into what he called "radiant energy of invisible kinds" after noticing damaged film in his labs. He is believed to have inadvertently captured an X-ray image a few weeks before Wilhem Röntgen announced his discovery of the X-ray in 1895.

4.      Wilhem Röntgen made his invention freely available instead of patenting it. He also refused to name the new rays after himself, preferring to call them X-rays, and received the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. Today, a Roentgen is a unit of measurement for the exposure of X-rays and gamma rays.

5.  1920s-1970s, people used to x-ray their feet to see if a new shoe fit well, especially popular for children’s shoes! There was little to no knowledge of x-ray shielding prevention, and everyone nearby would be exposed, not just the user’s foot!