IAEA Launches Android Isotope App
The agency's Nuclear Data Section's Isotope Browser will provide quick information on the properties of more than 4,000 isotopes.
"Nuclear technologies are all about radioisotopes. They rely on the availability of atomic, molecular and nuclear data to provide accurate numerical information on isotopes and their decay properties," the International Atomic Energy Agency states in a release introducing the Isotope Browser, a new android app from IAEA's Nuclear Data Section of the Division of Physical and Chemical Sciences that will provide quick information on the properties of more than 4,000 isotopes.
IAEA's release calls it a milestone in providing a "technical app" to provide instant in-depth details on the properties of radionuclides. It contains a periodic table of elements that allows for easy selection and displays information on the life cycle of each isotope.
"Isotopes are used in a number of fields such as dating sections of corals reefs, as well as bone, cloth, wood and plant fibers going back about 5,000 years, for which Carbon-14 is used," the release states. "In nuclear medicine, radioisotopes are used for research diagnosis and treatment. In industry and for mining, radioisotopes are used to check welds, to spot leaks, to examine the rate of wear, corrosion and erosion of metals. In agriculture, they have a role to assess soil fertility and radiation is used to kill parasites and pests, and to control the ripening of stored fruit and vegetables. Isotopes have a built in 'time span' of remaining active. Being aware of the time span of an isotope is crucial in the applications of nuclear technology. In this context, the half-life of an isotope plays an important part in a number of technologies, such as nuclear medicine, and for all of them timely, accurate data are vital."
For more information on the Isotope Browser, access http://play.google.com/store/apps and search for "isotope browser" to be able to see the features and to download.