Scotch Tape: First It Defrosts Glass Now It Emits X-Rays

From NewScientist:

Peeling ordinary sticky tape can generate bursts of X-rays intense enough to produce an image of the bones in your fingers.

Seth Putterman and colleagues from the University of California, Los Angeles used a motor to unwind a roll of sticky tape and recorded the electromagnetic emissions. Ripping the tape from its roll at 3 centimetres per second generated X-ray bursts of 15 kiloelectronvolts - each lasting one-billionth of a second, and containing over a million photons.

Putterman admits he is not sure exactly what is going on. "My attitude is to marvel at the phenomenon - all we are doing is peeling tape, and nature sets up a process that gives you nanosecond X-ray bursts."
Sniper007says...

OK, so can someone PLEASE for the love of everything holy, develop a mechanical device that costs around $200 to take your OWN x-rays at HOME? PLEASE? Seriously, you could buy your own tape, buy your own x-ray film, and presto: got a broken bone? Got a cavity? Just X-RAY yourself and save thousands by skipping that trip to the radiologist. If they don't do it, I will.

Discuss...

🗨️ Emojis & HTML

Enable JavaScript to submit a comment.

Possible *Invocations
discarddeadnotdeaddiscussfindthumbqualitybrieflongnsfwblockednochannelbandupeoflengthpromotedoublepromote

Send this Article to a Friend



Separate multiple emails with a comma (,); limit 5 recipients






Your email has been sent successfully!

Manage this Video in Your Playlists




notify when someone comments
X

This website uses cookies.

This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using this website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

I agree
  
Learn More