Can Nuclear Fallout Create Ghouls?

TL;DR

Nuclear fallout cannot literally create Fallout-style ghouls, though real radiation damage could explain parts of their appearance. Ionizing radiation can damage or kill cells, potentially causing massive skin loss, while a ghoul’s fictional radiation output might suppress pathogens around its open wounds. The three competing models for low-level exposure also show why radiation risk remains controversial. Read on for the scientific reasoning behind ghoulification.

Transcript

giant radioactive roaches super mutants Preston Garvey there are many terrible consequences to nuclear war in the Fallout universe but it's not all bad if you were lucky enough to not be vaporized instantaneously you might instead turn into something else a n Immortal radiation eating skin not having zombie a ghoul is there a way for radiation to s... Read More

Key Insights

• 🙂 Radiation, whether in the form of light or particles, can damage cells by ripping pieces from atoms and molecules.
• 🤗 Fallout ghouls may survive with open wounds due to their constant radiation output, potentially killing pathogens around them.
• 😘 The health effects of low-level ionizing radiation are disputed among three different models: linear no threshold, threshold, and hormesis.
• ♋ Radiation has both beneficial and harmful effects, such as sterilizing medical devices and killing cancer cells, but also causing cell damage and potentially leading to cancer.
• ℹ️ Fungi in the Chernobyl exclusion zone have shown the ability to grow towards sources of radiation, suggesting a possible form of radiosynthesis.
• 🫒 The transformation of humans into ghouls in Fallout is a fictional concept, but there are scientific principles and controversies surrounding radiation's effects on living organisms.
• 🛩️ Radioresistance varies among organisms, with simpler and smaller organisms generally being more resilient to radiation.
• 😘 The debate surrounding the health effects of low-level ionizing radiation is challenging due to the presence of natural radiation sources and the risk of developing cancer during a lifetime.

Questions & Answers

Q: Can nuclear fallout create ghouls?

Not in the immortal, radiation-eating form depicted in Fallout; ghoulification is fictional. However, radiation-induced cell death can cause massive skin loss, so part of a ghoul’s appearance has a basis in real radiation damage.

Q: What causes humans in Fallout to become ghouls?

Canonically, humans become ghouls after receiving such a high radiation dose that they transform instead of dying. Their lifespans extend, they can feed on radiation, and their skin falls off.

Q: How does ionizing radiation damage human cells?

Radiation can arrive as photons of light or as particles that strike atoms and molecules with enough energy to ionize them. This disrupts cellular machinery, after which a cell may repair itself, remain mutated, or die.

Q: Why do Fallout ghouls lose their skin?

Radiation-initiated cell death can lead to massive skin loss, resembling the ghoulish appearance shown in Fallout. The visual effect is therefore somewhat plausible even though the complete transformation is fictional.

Q: How might ghouls survive without skin?

Skin is the body’s first defense against pathogens, so a normal human with a full-body open wound would not be expected to survive. The proposed fictional explanation is that radiation emitted by ghouls kills nearby viruses and bacteria, reducing infection risk.

Q: Can radiation have useful effects?

Yes, because radiation’s ability to kill living cells has practical uses. It can sterilize spacecraft and medical devices, kill pathogens on food, and target cancer cells more selectively.

Q: Why are the effects of low-level ionizing radiation controversial?

Natural radiation is omnipresent, making small additional effects difficult to isolate. The transcript also notes that almost half of people develop some kind of cancer during their lifetimes, further complicating efforts to connect low-level exposure with specific health outcomes.

Q: What models describe the health effects of low-level radiation?

The three schools of thought are the linear no-threshold, threshold, and hormesis models. They respectively propose that any dose has health effects, that certain effects appear only beyond a dose threshold, or that small doses may provide beneficial effects.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Fallout ghouls are humans who were exposed to high doses of radiation, extending their lifespans and causing their skin to fall off.

• Radiation can damage cells in the body, leading to mutations, skin loss, and potential death.

• Ghouls may survive due to their constant radiation output, which may kill pathogens and bacteria, allowing them to live with open wounds.

• The health effects of low-level ionizing radiation, like that in Fallout, are still controversial, with different models arguing for different impacts.