Eros Madelung > when like an electron passes through a material, it causes ionisation, so it knocks shit load of electrons out of the atoms the material is made out of. this usually drops back into the atoms producing light
Eros Madelung > now - usually this light is absorbed instantly but a scintillator doesnt... it produces light which can pass through the material
Eros Madelung > so - if you look at the edge of this stuff, when particles pass through, it flashes
Eros Madelung > these are low numbers of photons... so - having a device that can count them is very useful for us
Eros Madelung > thats about it really
Eros Madelung > except we have a detector using 40,000 of these detectors
Eros Madelung > scintillators are quite cool - we have this plastic stuff, its transparent, but if you look at the edges it glows blue lol
Valeria Wolf > <ralph wiggum> I have a cat named wookie </ralph wiggum>