Tritium Glowrings - nuclear power in your pocket !

A look at how a tritium glow-ring works. We delve down to the sub-atomic level to see how the beta decay of tritium gas produces light.
I look at how safe it is to walk around with one in your pocket and how long they will shine for.

[@EmperorTerran]

great explanation, just learned about these existing...

[@halfrhovsquared]

I've had a blue one of these for around 20 years and it is still glowing.

[@garywatson]

I have five of these things, with the oldest being over 20 years old. All working fine.

[@sanketvikramsinhshinde5356]

thanks 😊

[@minims]

I remember seeing a ton of listings for this on ebay and Aliexpress a couple of years ago, but when I tried looking for one now - it seems that no one is selling them anymore. Maybe it’s banned in EU now?

[@skybugvideos]

They're available in the UK but not sure about the rest of the EU. Type "tritium glowring" into ebay and see what comes up. The eBay seller I bought from is called theglowcompanyuk

[@minims]

@@skybugvideos Went to the sellers store and tritium search provided no results. Guessing it’s really blocked in the EU.

[@BhavinTolia]

These should be used for road markings along with those reflectors...

[@jared2880]

Tritium is very expensive. A little bit of it goes a long way in uses like this where you won’t be too far away from it and it’s already in dark conditions- like the big red “EXIT” signs in buildings.
At night a road marker would need A LOT of Tritium to not be drowned out by headlights, streetlights, etc. Modern reflectors do enough of a good job harnessing our headlights- you won’t be driving in very dark conditions without them on anyway.

[@gfuentes8449]

people already steal roadside reflectors imagine tritium

[@LynxCarpathica]

okay I need this in white.

[@The-One-and-Only100]

I can't find any for sale in the US 😢

[@Knives323]

Can you get a tiny solar panel and see if you can get a voltage from the light? Could make a battery that last decades

[@kevinsong712]

Yes you can. 4-5 vials and 2 panels produces 1.5 volts.

[@Tupinamboman]

@@kevinsong712 The problem is the current you're able to get out of it

[@kevinsong712]

@@Tupinamboman true it's pretty miniscule you might be able to power a small LCD clock 😂

[@Tupinamboman]

@@kevinsong712 I think it was measured here: th-cam.com/video/KKdzhPiOqqg/w-d-xo.html

[@micahphilson]

Now if you lose your keys, you can just use your radiac to search for them!

[@Tolis_ae]

Imagine to put tritium inside of old tv tube

[@lordrefrigeratorintercoole288]

where can i get one?
THey look so cool!
besides id love to scare some of my FlatEarth friends with it....

[@gcf1978]

Is it safe to sleep next to one of these?

[@skybugvideos]

Yes, totally safe. The very weak beta radiation is stopped dead when it hits the side of the capsule.

[@user32352]

is the blue as bright as the green or is that just the video?

[@skybugvideos]

The blue is a bit dimmer then the green. I might have brightened it up in the thumbnail but I can't remember.

[@dannybartlett4225]

Army been using them for the last 20yrs ffs

[@AmstradExin]

Well, Beta radiation is Electrons, yes. But that also means it's like a CRT monitor! CRT Monitors are not banned but these things are???

[@nomaschalupas2453]

Got tridium on my gun.

[@transkryption]

A nurse told me a story of growing up in Kalgoorlie playing on mine tailings piles.
Her friend found a glowing rock (probably radium) which he put on a necklace.
He wore that until he had a nasty ulcer on his chest.
Mild gamma source vs alpha source?
well a Hong Kong study showed granite kitchen benches are associated with a 1-2% increase risk of lung cancer.
But that's breathing the radon gas from trace uranium decay in the granite.
alpha/beta... meh... normally easily stopped. Just try not to breathe it.
I'm not atomophobic

[@skybugvideos]

That necklace story is scary, I hope the mine tailings have been cleared up now.

[@transkryption]

@@skybugvideos only a "lucky" find amongst gold mine tailings... nothing so exciting like Uranium mining... In the arid near desert inland of Australia... There are places across that region like I have seen signs on taps saying "not potable/drinkable water"
never specifying why.
and I know there are areas where ground water uranium levels are unacceptable.
After all Australia has about 50% of known U reserves. Unless that Chinese discovery a few years back has tipped the balance.

[@jayytee8062]

I doubt it was radium. Probably Austunite if at all true.

[@Sraye]

Doesn't want these things in the ocean or in the landfill but buys more to add demand, which makes the manufacturers think they have to meet with more supply.

[@jayytee8062]

Wahhnn wahhhhh

[@garywatson]

There’s lots of tritium already in the atmosphere.

[@icabobcrane8984]

Tritium is used in thermonuclear bomb s