Hello and welcome back to the Curious Kid podcast.

Seven years ago, we got curious about microwaves in episode six.

Five years ago, we got curious about x-rays in episode 102.

Microwaves and x-rays have something in common. Do you know what it is?

Mailbag!

Mailbag! Hello, my name is Avi. I am six years old, and I am from Utah. I like listening to your

podcast while we drive in the car.

I am curious about peregrine falcons and birds of pride, and I'm curious about radiation.

Could you do a podcast on those topics? Thank you for helping me learn. Avi.

Avi, we totally can do a podcast on one of those topics. We are going to get curious about radiation for you this week.

By the end of this episode, you will know what radiation is, where it comes from, and how it affects your life, in cool, surprising, and sometimes even helpful ways.

Wait, helpful?

I thought radiation was all danger and comic book villains and glowing green goo.

That's a big myth, Olivia.

That's not what radiation is like at all.

Before we get into it, what's the question of the week?

Polonium is the name of a highly radioactive element that can be found on the periodic

table under atomic number 84. It was named after the country where the person that discovered

the element was born. The person that discovered polonium was Marie Curie, and we just discussed

her a few weeks ago in the episode on famous siblings.

The question of the week is, what is the home country of Marie Curie?

While you're thinking about the answer, let's learn about the mysterious and super interesting topic of radiation.

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