Alpha radiation makes sparks, detects smoke, and eliminates static cling https://tube.loping.net/videos/watch/f559b71a-bff5-49c9-a8fc-74101897242e Interesting applications of a strong polonium-210 alpha radiation source. The half life is only 140 days, so the Staticmaster brushes must be replaced every year or so. Great technical article on ionization smoke detectors: https://circuitcellar.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/CC2011110601.pdf Staticmaster refill: https://www.amazon.com/Static-Master-4331991414-Static-Master-Refill/dp/B0000ALKDH/ Ionization chamber: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32838644316.html Carl Willis' video on spark gap detectors. (check out his whole channel) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8GlzUjYazs Polonium poisoning: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexander_Litvinenko https://sci-hub.tw/10.1088/1361-6498/aa58a7 Mightyohm geiger counter: https://mightyohm.com/blog/products/geiger-counter/ Applied Science on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AppliedScience Sun, 12 Jul 2026 14:20:18 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://tube.loping.net Alpha radiation makes sparks, detects smoke, and eliminates static cling https://tube.loping.net/lazy-static/avatars/8a56e488-2120-4649-a417-badf5893657b.png https://tube.loping.net/videos/watch/f559b71a-bff5-49c9-a8fc-74101897242e All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://tube.loping.net/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.