Why do we associate nuclear radiation with a green glow? ( kbin.social )

tal , 1 year ago

Some possible factors, from reading similar discussions:

• Tritium paint is radioactive and produces a pale green fluorescence on watches.
• The Simpsons had a glowing green fuel rod in the opening. The rod would not have glowed green in reality.
• Uranium glass fluoresces green under UV light

muftiboy , 1 year ago

since 1) and 3) are things that maybe 10 people in the world even know about, it's probably the Simpsons yeah

tal , 1 year ago

In 2023, yeah, but remember that it isn't in 2023 that the association was made.

Tritium watches used to be a much bigger deal some decades back, as you could actually use the thing in the dark. Subsequent to that, battery-powered digital watches with a light became common, and then a lot of people just moved to using a cell phone to know the time.

As the linked WP article details, uranium glass also used to be more-common prior to the government locking up a lot of supplies of uranium. I've only seen uranium glass in person in museums, and in general, plastic has displaced a lot of glassware today.