It is impossible to predict when an individual radioactive atom will decay. The half-life of a certain type of atom does not describe the exact amount of time that every single atom experiences before decaying. Everything that experiences time can therefore be given a longer effective lifetime if time is dilated.

atomic mass unit: Abbreviated as “amu.” A mass equal to one twelfth the mass of an atom of carbon-12.

Atomic Properties. Size. The atom is about 10-10 meters (or 10-8 centimeters) in size. This means a row of 108 (or 100,000,000) atoms would stretch a centimeter, about the size of your fingernail. Atoms of different elements are different sizes, but 10-10 m can be thought of as a rough value for any atom.

Atoms don’t age. Atoms radioactively decay when a lower-energy nuclear configuration exists to which they can transition. The actual decay event of an individual atom happens randomly and is not the result of the atom getting old or changing through time. Artistic illustration of radioactive beta decay.

A smartphone camera can make you a walking gamma ray detector. They concluded that the phones have the processing power to detect gamma radiation with their built-in cameras and to measure levels on the phone.

When radioactive atoms decay, they release energy in the form of ionizing radiation (alpha particles, beta particles and/or gamma rays). The energy is called ionizing radiation because it has enough energy to knock tightly bound electrons from an atom’s orbit. This causes the atom to become a charged ion.

Exposure to very high levels of radiation, such as being close to an atomic blast, can cause acute health effects such as skin burns and acute radiation syndrome (“radiation sickness”). It can also result in long-term health effects such as cancer and cardiovascular disease.