Old & New.

This is coolbert:

Old and new! From Sputnik and as described concerns about atomic attack of some sort not abated in the aftermath of the Cold War.

Radiation detectors, one sophisticated and one very unsophisticated! That latter from the era of the 1950's, field-expedient but still effective?

"DARPA Unveils Smart Phone-Sized Radiation Detector to Hunt ‘Dirty’ Bombs"

"US scientists have manufactured a new generation of low-cost radiation detectors the size of smart phones to detect radiation from 'dirty' bombs and other weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)"

A Smart Phone sized radiation detector presumably that can be linked by cellular!

And from sixty years ago: "Nuclear War Survival Skills"

The home-made fall-out meter KFM! Field-expedient!

"A Homemade Fallout Meter, the KFM"

"The complete KFM instructions include patterns to be cut out and used to construct the fallout meter. At the end of the instructions are extra patterns on 4 unnumbered pages. The reader is urged to use these extra patterns to make KFM's in normal peacetime and to keep the complete instructions intact for use during a recognized crisis period."

NO battery or other external power source required! Electro-static charge powers the unit via the "charging wire" and an unwound length of scotch-type tape about a foot long [30 centimeters], the latter passed in close proximity to the "spark" gap end of the charging wire.

Passing the tape in close proximity but not touching enough charge the KFM unit. Electro-static power that can be done repeatedly as needed. Who would have thought it?

Just remember to unwind that tape quickly!

coolbert.