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Discovery: Scotch tape is X-ray-ted
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2008 10:59:27 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: eekid () aol com Date: October 23, 2008 10:56:48 AM EDT To: dave () farber net Subject: Discovery: Scotch tape is X-ray-ted http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/10/discovery-scotc.html Discovery: Scotch tape is X-ray-tedThe wonders of duct tape are well known. Now, its clear cousin is showing its scientific stuff.
Researchers have discovered that Scotch tape emits X-rays — as long as you're peeling it in a vacuum chamber.
"We were very surprised," Juan Escobar, a UCLA graduate student, told the Associated Press. "The power you could get from just peeling tape was enormous."
He and his colleagues X-rayed a finger (photo), and that might lead to development of cheap, portable X-ray machines for paramedics or for locations lacking electricity.
But fear not, gift-wrappers of America. "We don't want to scare people from using Scotch tape in everyday life," Escobar said in their report on the findings, appearing in tomorrow's issue of the journal Nature.
It's not the first time that cello-tape's X-ray power have been detected. Soviet scientists reported similar findings more than 50 years ago when they peeled tape off glass. The current research demonstrates the quantity of X-rays that could be produced, the authors note.
Read the article and see photos of the glowing tape.(Photo of finger X-ray by Carlos Camara, Juan V. Escobar and Seth J. Putterman of the UCLA Laboratory of Low Temperatures and Acoustics, via AP.)
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- Discovery: Scotch tape is X-ray-ted David Farber (Oct 23)