Question: is any of your work dangerous

Stewart Martin-Haugh answered on 13 Nov 2018:

The experiments I work on produce lots of radiation (X-rays, particles etc) but these would only be dangerous if you stood right next to the experiment while it was running. We keep the experiments behind thick concrete walls and carefully measure radiation levels to make sure no one is exposed to any. No one is allowed near the experiments when they’re running, and there are eye scanners making sure only the right people go near the experiments the rest of the time.

Most of my work doesn’t need me to be anywhere near the experiments: I can download data files on the internet and analyse them wherever I am.

Radiation is dangerous but can be very useful in the right circumstances: X-rays are of course good for taking pictures of bones, and other types of radiation are good at treating cancer and taking other kinds of pictures.