File talk:The patient's skin is burned in a pattern corresponding to the dark portions of a kimono - NARA - 519686.jpg

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The following analysis has been made on en.wikipedia.org:

In the picture on the right, the normal clothing that the woman was wearing would have been unable to attenuate the gamma radiation and it is likely that any such effect was evenly applied to her entire body. Beta burns would be likely all over the body due to contact with fallout, but thermal burns are often on one side of the body as heat radiation does not penetrate the human body. In addition, the pattern on her clothing has been burnt into the skin. This is because white fabric reflects more infra-red light than dark fabric. As a result, the skin underneath dark fabric is burned more than the skin covered by white clothing.

It sounds sensible, but no source is cited, so it might be original research.--Ytrottier (talk) 23:58, 29 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]