In Other Animals
Thousands of scientific experiments have been performed to study acute radiation syndrome in animals.
An episode of MythBusters exposed several types of insects to a cobalt-60 source at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory facility, to test the myth that cockroaches would be the sole survivors of a nuclear blast. At 100 Gy, 70% of the cockroaches were dead after 30 days, as were 40% of the flour beetles. At 1000 Gy, all of the cockroaches were dead after 30 days, whereas 10% of the flour beetles survived (thus "busting" the myth). There is a simple guide for predicting survival/death in mammals, including humans, following the acute effects of inhaling radioactive particles.
Read more about this topic: Biological Timeline Of Radiation Poisoning
Famous quotes containing the word animals:
“Researchers, with science as their authority, will be able to cut [animals] up, alive, into small pieces, drop them from a great height to see if they are shattered by the fall, or deprive them of sleep for sixteen days and nights continuously for the purposes of an iniquitous monograph.... “Animal trust, undeserved faith, when at last will you turn away from us? Shall we never tire of deceiving, betraying, tormenting animals before they cease to trust us?””
—Colette [Sidonie Gabrielle Colette] (1873–1954)