Safecast Draws on Power of the Crowd to Map Japan's Radiation

Eight months after a tsunami caused a nuclear accident in Japan, ordinary people are using new technology and the power of crowdsourcing to find radiation hotspots.

TRANSCRIPT

JEFFREY BROWN: Now, tracking the spread of radiation in Japan eight months after the tsunami caused a nuclear accident.

Japanese people are using new technology and the power of crowdsourcing to find hotspots.

NewsHour science correspondent Miles O'Brien has the second in a series of stories from Japan.

MILES O'BRIEN: In Japan, these days, you never know where you're going to find a hotspot. We are at a highway rest stop halfway between Tokyo and Fukushima, and we are looking for the kind of hotspot you would just as soon avoid.

PIETER FRANKEN, Safecast Japan: On the roof, the cesium didn't really stick very well, so it all flushed down and when it hit the concrete or the stone here, it bonded. So this is like a micro hotspot. Read More

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