Drake Rebecca, Terry Samantha Ya, Langdon Sophie
Centre for Tumour Microenvironment, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom.
Department of Imaging Chemistry and Biology, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
Front Young Minds. 2022 Mar 14;10.
The splitting of atoms, also known as nuclear fission, is the physics behind radiation and radioactivity. Dr Lise Meitner discovered how radioactivity could be produced in 1939. She realised firing a small particle present in the nucleus of all atoms, a neutron, at another atom could release energy in the form of radiation. Radioactive atoms can also be created in this way and are useful in detecting cancer or checking if the brain and heart are working properly. This is because when radioactive atoms are injected into the blood vein of a patient, they travel through the body and release radiation that is detected using special cameras. This creates images or videos of tumours or normal tissues inside the body. Radiation therefore helps doctors diagnose and treat patients better. Unfortunately, Dr Meitner was never credited officially for her key discovery of nuclear fission.
原子分裂，也被称为核裂变，是辐射和放射性背后的物理学原理。莉泽·迈特纳博士在1939年发现了如何产生放射性。她意识到，用存在于所有原子核中的一种小粒子——中子，去撞击另一个原子，能够以辐射的形式释放能量。放射性原子也能通过这种方式产生，并且在检测癌症或检查大脑和心脏是否正常运作方面很有用。这是因为当放射性原子被注入患者的静脉时，它们会在体内穿行并释放出辐射，而这种辐射可以通过特殊的相机检测到。这就生成了体内肿瘤或正常组织的图像或视频。因此，辐射有助于医生更好地诊断和治疗患者。不幸的是，迈特纳博士对核裂变的这一关键发现从未得到官方认可。
