On August 6, 1945, the atomic bomb nicknamed “Little Boy” was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima by the bomber plane Enola Gay. An estimated 90,000 to 120,000 are said to have died, either instantaneously or over the following days, because of the atomic bomb. Three days later, another atomic bomb, nicknamed “Fat Man” was dropped on Nagasaki, killing around 60,000 to 70,000.
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There were some people who survived these horrifying events, and they came to be known in Japanese as hibakusha. Unfortunately, while they may have survived the atomic bombs, they could not escape the deadly effects of the radiation caused by them. Nevertheless, their suffering was not in vain.
Collectively, they have left an important legacy. Most of what is known today about the long-term health effects of radiation has come out of research with those survivors. The work, now run by the Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF), is making “major contributions to our understanding of radiation effects,” even today, says Richard Wakeford, a radiation epidemiologist at the University of Manchester. RERF studies also underpin the limits that countries have set for occupational and medical exposure to radiation.
Meet some of the survivors and read their stories over at Science Magazine.
(Image Credit: geralt/ Pixabay)
Source: neatorama