DIY Geiger counter smartphone app to measure radiation.
At http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/onepercent/2012/02/diy-geiger-counter-smartphone.html
Kat Austen, CultureLab editor
In the wake of Japan's Fukushima disaster, amidst a climate of general mistrust of government radiation data, a number of crowdsourced initiatives for mapping radiation levels sprang up, such as Japan Geigermap, in which radiation readings from citizens are aggregated and displayed online using a web service called pachube.
But most Geiger counters for personal use cost around $200, prohibiting many from measuring radiation for themselves. That's where non-profit organisation radiation-watch.org has stepped in.
They have devised a way for people to construct their own smartphone-compatible Geiger counter at home. Pocket Geiger uses 8 photodiodes to detect the radiation, aluminium foil to screen alpha and beta particles, and a plastic "Frisk" sweet box for the housing. The total cost is just $46.
Ishigaki started the project in June last year, and with the help of supporting scientists and a team of hackers he has developed the self-assembly Geiger counter and app to allow anyone to measure radiation levels in their home or neighbourhood and upload them to a central server, where they can be visualised on a map.
The project has now grown to over 10,000 users, but (more at http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/onepercent/2012/02/diy-geiger-counter-smartphone.html )
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