Posted on 11/17/2021 10:14:09 AM PST by Red Badger
Engineers have successfully transferred digitally encoded information wirelessly using nuclear radiation instead of conventional technology.
Radio waves and mobile phone signals rely on electromagnetic radiation for communication but in a new development, engineers from Lancaster University in the UK, working with the Jožef Stefan Institute in Slovenia, transferred digitally encoded information using “fast neutrons” instead.
The researchers measured the spontaneous emission of fast neutrons from californium-252, a radioactive isotope produced in nuclear reactors.
Modulated emissions were measured using a detector and recorded on a laptop.
Several examples of information, i.e., a word, the alphabet, and a random number selected blindly, were encoded serially into the modulation of the neutron field and the output decoded on a laptop which recovered the encoded information on screen.
Nuclear Power Plant The researchers measured the spontaneous emission of fast neutrons from californium-252, a radioactive isotope produced in nuclear reactors. Credit: Lancaster University
A double-blind test was performed in which a number derived from a random number generator was encoded without prior knowledge of those uploading it, and then transmitted and decoded.
All transmission tests attempted proved to be 100% successful.
Professor Malcolm Joyce of Lancaster University said: “We demonstrate the potential of fast neutron radiation as a medium for wireless communications for applications where conventional electromagnetic transmission is either not feasible or is inherently limited.”
He said fast neutrons have an advantage over conventional electromagnetic waves, which are significantly weakened by transmission through materials including metals.
“In some safety-critical scenarios, such as concerning the integrity of reactor containments, and metal vaults and bulkheads in maritime structures, it can be important to minimize the number of penetrations made through such metal structures for communications cabling. The use of neutrons for information transmission through such structures could negate the need for such penetrations and is perhaps also relevant to scenarios where limited transmissions are desirable in difficult circumstances, such as for emergency rescue operations.”
Fast neutrons could also be incorporated into a mixed-signal, electronic systems to achieve signal mixing being between electrons and neutrons. This could contribute to the requirement to ensure the integrity of information transfer.
Reference: “Wireless information transfer with fast neutrons” by Malcolm J. Joyce, Michael D. Aspinall, Mackenzie Clark, Edward Dale, Hamish Nye, Andrew Parker, Luka Snoj and Joe Spiresa, 30 October 2021, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment.
DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2021.165946
This may be one small key to personal transportation that does not make contact with the ground and is routed via GPS with the rider’s choice of priority. Paint new and existing right of ways with a “smart stripe” that communicates and executes logistics. The real trick will be a safe form of energy that can levitate and move up to about 500 lbs. at up to Mach 1.
well, californium...
I wish they all could be californium neutrons.......................
LOL! perfect...
sub-space radio
In reality, nuclear radiation IS electromagnetic radiation.
Good to know that there will be a possibility that the NORKS can encode “greetings friends” into the one they hit Seattle or Hawaii with...
Of course that means they will also have to encode the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution of the fission-neutron energy...
Why is it that almost everything interesting seems to come back to a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution...
See Bio-Rhythm:
https://www.biorhythm-calculator.net/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biorhythm_(pseudoscience)
When it comes to neutrons, the Pointer Sisters are the real experts...
Straight outta Oakland.....................
Pretty much a waste of research dollars.......
So, this is about submarine communications and tainting the random number generation of one-time-use encryption. Got it.
Psst... this information is radioactive. Pass it on.
“The real trick will be a safe form of energy that can levitate and move up to about 500 lbs. at up to Mach 1.”
Maglev is a new concept to you? What’s the connection with fast neutrons? Also, wondering how your Mach 1 personal transportation deals with braking and G force issues during stops and turns. What happens when two of these cross at an intersection?
Gamma is. Neutrons, alpha, beta are particles.
that was my thought. a neutron has mass when compared to an electron. I have no education in anything remotely related to this field and my immediate thought was that the info transferred by this means could cook you if you got in the way of the message and the receiving device.
Electrons themselves travel at about 1% of the speed of light. It’s electron “pressure” that travels at the speed of light.
It’s like when you turn on a water hose, it immediately puts out water at the other end. But it takes a while for the hot water to get cold because the water itself travels slower than the water pressure pushing the water at the other end out.
What these guys might be playing around with is Neutron “pressure” in a similar way. It might have advantages in terms of frequency usage. But you’re still playin’ around with neutrons so it’s dicey. Like the difference between using fire ‘pressure’ rather than water pressure...
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