Brent C. Hartinger, age 10, of Tacoma, Wash., for his question:

 WHAT EXACTLY IS RADIATION?

Picture a lot of straight rays, all spreading out from the same central point. Actually we cannot picture radiation because its spreading rays are energies  and energy is invisible. It may be heat radiation or light radiation that fans out from the dazzling sun. The heat from a campfire spreads out and warms things around it by radiation. Light radiates out from a lamp in all directions, turning night into day.

Our largest supplies of radiation pour forth from the sun. This is solar energy that fans outward in various forms of electromagnetic energy. This fancy name includes solar heat, light and other forms of energy that combine the invisible forces of electricity and magnetism. Other forms of radiation include piercing X rays, plus the dangerous rays that come from atomic bombs and natural radioactive substances, such as uranium