People can become radioactive when flying

When the aircraft flies in a storm, the passenger body in the aircraft can receive the equivalent amount of radiation as a full body scan.

Scientists already know that storms can create very powerful gamma beams. These beams exist only in extremely short time. They appear at altitudes that commercial aircraft often move (from 9 to 12 km). The brightness of the beam is so great that devices several hundred kilometers away from them can detect them. But experts call them "dark lightning" , Science Daily reported.

The illustration of gamma beam arises during a storm. (Photo: NASA)

Scientists at the Florida Institute of Technology in the US have built a physical model to calculate the effects of stealth bolts on human bodies in aircraft.

The model shows, if the aircraft moves near the top of the storm, the amount of radiation that the human body receives from the dark is equivalent to 10 times the X-ray chest imaging, or one year of exposure to ground radiation. If the plane flies in the middle of the storm, the amount of radiation that the passenger can receive is equivalent to 10 times the amount of radiation when we scan the entire body.

"Although pilots are always looking for ways to avoid storms, many planes are still often caught in the storm. In some cases, it is possible that several hundred people receive huge amounts of radiation from dark lightning but they did not know, "said Joseph Dwyer, lead researcher.

The team added that the amount of radiation that the human body receives from dark lightning is not large enough to be harmful.

"People should not worry about radiation from dark lightning. It is not a reason for us to avoid traveling by plane," Dwyer commented.