Tritium "Beta" Lights: the Cool Glow of Radioactivity

Our Own Devices June 18, 2025
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Our Own Devices

@canadianmacgyver

About

Ever wonder how a rotary telephone works, how sailors and pilots navigated by the stars, or how mechanical calculators perform complex math using only gears? Then you've come to the right place! Our Own Devices is a channel dedicated to the fascinating world of vintage technology, and the many elegant and ingenious ways our ancestors solved even the most complex technical problems. Want more fascinating history? I am a regular staff writer for Today I Found Out and many of its sister channels: https://www.youtube.com/@TodayIFoundOut I also have a historical adventure novel titled 'Our Own Devices' set in 1920s Morocco. Check it out at my personal website: www.gillesmessier.ca And finally, I make 1920s/30s-style Art Deco posters, which you can purchase on my Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/DecoEchoes

Video Description

Used in a variety of applications including gunsights, compasses, and emergency exit signs, "beta lights" convert the beta radiation emitted by Tritium - a heavy isotope of hydrogen - into visible light. They are one in a long line of radioluminescent devices starting with Radium luminous paint, introduced in the early 1900s. Tritium also has a wide variety of other applications, most notably in boosted fission and thermonuclear weapons. TIFO CANDU Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1RNr-PZkxA&pp=ygUXdG9kYXkgaSBmb3VuZCBvdXQgY2FuZHU%3D TIFO Hydrogen Bomb Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBs6iLbKki8&pp=ygUfdG9kYXkgaSBmb3VuZCBvdXQgaHlkcm9nZW4gYm9tYtIHCQneCQGHKiGM7w%3D%3D TIFO Radiation Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFA6IXu37Pc&pp=ygUldG9kYXkgaSBmb3VuZCBvdXQgcmFkaWF0aW9uIGJvZHkgdGFrZQ%3D%3D 0:00 Introduction 1:07 Properties of Tritium 3:10 Discovery of Tritium 4:42 Thermonuclear Weapons: Introduction 10:48 Boosted Fission Weapons 13:21 Teller-Ulam Design 20:00 Radioluminescent Lighting 20:39 Radium-226 23:13 Promethium-147 23:54 Strontium-90 25:05 Tritium (Beta) Lights 26:26 False Origins of Beta Lights 28:38 Tritium Safety 29:23 Tritium Paint 29:44 Other Applications 30:51 Tritium Production 31:21 Outro SOURCES https://uwaterloo.ca/earth-sciences-museum/resources/detailed-rocks-and-minerals-articles/tritium https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36083730/ https://patents.google.com/patent/US2749251A/en?oq=2749251 https://www.chemteam.info/Chem-History/Rutherford-1934a/Rutherford-1934a.html https://orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/radioluminescent/sight-for-law-rocket-launcher.html https://orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/radioluminescent/tritium-exit-sign.html https://orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/radioluminescent/tritium-sight-for-m-16-rifle.html https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/946070/JSP_392_Chapter_19_-_GTLS_-GTLD__Alt_Text_.pdf https://perezcope.com/2019/11/30/luminor-2020-debunking-panerais-fictional-history-of-tritium-based-lume/ https://www.orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/radioluminescent/index.html https://patents.google.com/patent/US4677008A/en http://national-radiation-instrument-catalog.com/new_page_37.htm https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/technology-you-asked/what-tritium-paint https://www.horolonomics.com/2020/05/the-history-of-radioactive-rolex-with.html https://www.watchprosite.com/rolex/rolex-and-radioactivity/732.901183.6169193/

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