News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Australians Scour Desert for Dangerous Radioactive Capsul... by car on Sunday January 29, 2023 @02:26PM (#34571723)
A network of scintillators in every phone would be amazing for finding stuff like this.

That was my first thought too. Do you think it’s physically possible to make a MEMS scintiallation device?

Re:Australians Scour Desert for Dangerous Radioactive Capsul... by MengerSponge on Sunday January 29, 2023 @03:35PM (#34572432)
No. MEMS means electromechanical, and scintillation needs solid state: a crystal and a photon detector of some kind. The crystal can't be miniaturized because there's a minimum thickness you need to capture the photon and Compton electrons*.
Re:Australians Scour Desert for Dangerous Radioactive Capsul... by car on Monday January 30, 2023 @01:53AM (#34576630)
You're right, I stand corrected.

This page [0] has an image of a small scintillator plus photomultiplier, but probably too thick for a phone.

[0]https://scan-electronics.com/en/dosimeters/radiacode-101

Re:Australians Scour Desert for Dangerous Radioactive Capsul... by qwezxcrty on Sunday January 29, 2023 @03:46PM (#34572562)
Although some weird Japanese phone makers did have smartphones with radiation detector built-in (SHARP 107sh and 205sh), I don't think it would be a popular feature.

There isn't so many cases in daily life that one can encounter a radioactive source. Even if you are actively looking for one (don't do it), you will have a hard time if you don't work with radioactive sources occupationally.

Also, it's not physically possible to create a small and yet sensitive radiation detector.

Re:Australians Scour Desert for Dangerous Radioactive Capsul... by pfdietz on Sunday January 29, 2023 @04:30PM (#34572969)
There are radiation detection apps for cell phones that use the camera. Not very sensitive, but no new hardware is required.
Re:Australians Scour Desert for Dangerous Radioactive Capsul... by astrange on Sunday January 29, 2023 @10:35PM (#34575493)
If you're going to put increasingly obscure health sensors in your phone, I think air quality would come before radiation.