On 2021-12-03 01:18, Robin wrote:
If a measurable amount of energy is produced by the cell, and is of nuclear origin, then even an insensitive detector should pick up multiple counts / second. To test your detector, you can use an Americium based smoke detector. That's only about 1 micro Curie, and any significant energy production should produce much more than that.
At the time I tried putting the webcam detector close to a KOH canister (slightly radioactive), and there was a slight increase in the number of events (mainly "spots"). The Geiger counter I had earlier on also responded to the KOH canister at close distance.
I don't think measurable gamma radiation is going to get directly emitted by experiments like the ones I toyed with, but I find likely that the strong EMI occasionally produced could affect the electronics of more sensitive radiation detectors and potentially give artifacts. If there is more behind that (perhaps even novel forms of radiation), it might require different detector types than used conventionally.
Cheers, BA
