Quote:
Originally Posted by ngmunling
Are you sure radiation can be seen in the dark by seeing it glows?
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No, of course not. That's just the silliest hollywood joke about it and perpetuated by physicists to ridicule the whole notion.
There is, however, a bluish
Cherenkov radiation that occurs when radiating particles move faster than the speed of light (in vacuum), which can only happen when the medium slows photons more than the particles, i.e. under water etc (where photons move at 75% of their top speed and therefore matter can be accelerated beyond local c). It has applications in nuclear industry, but of course there are strict preconditions for it to occur. Hence, just a joke.