http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7686530.stm
Makes present wrapping this Christmas suddenly seem a little dangerous!
Makes present wrapping this Christmas suddenly seem a little dangerous!
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Sticky Tape is Source of X-rays
- Thread starter jimN
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Meh, I wouldn't be so afraid. You get more radiation living in Colorado, or eating bananas, or any number of things. 
I read this yesterday. Glad you posted it.
So from what I understand, is this only Scotch Tape? Or has the list for "1001 uses for duct tape" gotten longer?
So from what I understand, is this only Scotch Tape? Or has the list for "1001 uses for duct tape" gotten longer?
3M Scotch tape?! Reminds me of the 3M coolant used in an old super computer at the SGI computing labs; if boards severely overheat the coolant would turn into mustard gas. WooHoo!
Seriously, I love 3M. They have a LOT of creative people working for them. You get to work with other people who, despite all the beer and drugs, somehow managed to maintain a 3.8 in college.
Seriously, I love 3M. They have a LOT of creative people working for them. You get to work with other people who, despite all the beer and drugs, somehow managed to maintain a 3.8 in college.
I wonder how many people will be now scared to use it.
Probably the same people that think irradiated foods are radioactive.
Probably the same people that think irradiated foods are radioactive.
I wonder how many people will be now scared to use it.
Probably the same people that think irradiated foods are radioactive.
Haha.... or the locations of the Atomic Bombs in Japan...
Stand back... I warn you... or I will peel this roll of tape at 3 cm/sec under precise laboratory conditions until we die! Or run out of 3M's entire warehouse supply first.
I've just unspooled most of a roll of works Scotch tape in a dark cupbours and ... nothing, no sparks, no glow in the dark fingers, no emerging superpowerseven. I feel Duped. ;-(
P.S. In cace you cant guess, its a slow work day and the boss is away.
P.S. In cace you cant guess, its a slow work day and the boss is away.
I just tried this last night at 2am with cheap no-name sellotape. Interesting. Unspooling it very occasionally creates some sparks. I was a little disappointed actually.
Then I tried sticking it down on some surfaces and ripping it up again.
WOW. Trails of sparks every time. You need a decent hard surface (varnish or paint) and rub the tape in to make sure it sticks to the surface (fabric doesn't work).
You can reuse the same strip of tape over and over again, and get the sparks everytime, until the stickiness wears off.
I enjoyed most sticking a long strip down, and ripping it off from both ends at the same time - you get two trails of cold fire racing towards each other
I also tried sticking it to itself for double spark intensity - nope, didn't work.
I think the original experimenters used the unspooling method for a constant output and easy setup - but it doesn't make many visible sparks.
Let me know how you get on Millar876
Then I tried sticking it down on some surfaces and ripping it up again.
WOW. Trails of sparks every time. You need a decent hard surface (varnish or paint) and rub the tape in to make sure it sticks to the surface (fabric doesn't work).
You can reuse the same strip of tape over and over again, and get the sparks everytime, until the stickiness wears off.
I enjoyed most sticking a long strip down, and ripping it off from both ends at the same time - you get two trails of cold fire racing towards each other
I also tried sticking it to itself for double spark intensity - nope, didn't work.
I think the original experimenters used the unspooling method for a constant output and easy setup - but it doesn't make many visible sparks.
Let me know how you get on Millar876
I just tried this last night at 2am with cheap no-name sellotape. Interesting. Unspooling it very occasionally creates some sparks. I was a little disappointed actually.
Then I tried sticking it down on some surfaces and ripping it up again.
WOW. Trails of sparks every time. You need a decent hard surface (varnish or paint) and rub the tape in to make sure it sticks to the surface (fabric doesn't work).
You can reuse the same strip of tape over and over again, and get the sparks everytime, until the stickiness wears off.
I enjoyed most sticking a long strip down, and ripping it off from both ends at the same time - you get two trails of cold fire racing towards each other
I also tried sticking it to itself for double spark intensity - nope, didn't work.
I think the original experimenters used the unspooling method for a constant output and easy setup - but it doesn't make many visible sparks.
Let me know how you get on Millar876
I was scared before... now I'm HIGHLY scared.
. I won't ever be able to touch scotch tape again.
Boy you got to feel sorry for the gift wrappers at the mall during Christmas now.
Though I have no frame of reference as to how strong an x-ray has to be to penetrate the finger. Since a weak flashlight shines through easily enough. How strong is the x-ray generated by the scotch tape compared to one in a hospital for chest x-rays?
Though I have no frame of reference as to how strong an x-ray has to be to penetrate the finger. Since a weak flashlight shines through easily enough. How strong is the x-ray generated by the scotch tape compared to one in a hospital for chest x-rays?
A finger is just bone, fatty tissue, some bits of tendon and skin.
And honestly, its in tiny little bursts. Radiation is everywhere. Cosmic rays pass through the earth (and people, plants, animals) all the time.
Counting down the days until the EU bans sticky tape for fear of mutant babies everywhere....
Maybe there will be a new "horror" movie about Christmas called 365 Days later.
And honestly, its in tiny little bursts. Radiation is everywhere. Cosmic rays pass through the earth (and people, plants, animals) all the time.
Counting down the days until the EU bans sticky tape for fear of mutant babies everywhere....
Maybe there will be a new "horror" movie about Christmas called 365 Days later.
Oh, a little bit of triboluminescence never hurt anyone
You can even do it orally too, if you don't mind putting a white substance in your mouth...
http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howthingswork/a/aa060601a.htm
Candy triboluminescence - oh noes - evil candy - bannit! BANNIT!
Ooh, let's guess at some numbers:
A chest is about 50x thicker and more dense than a finger (ribs, spine etc) and probably 1000x the mass. (finger = 20gr, chest = 20 kilo approx)
Radiation falls off as the square of distance, so for the thickness of a chest (plus greater distance from source), 50^2= 250, and say, 100x for the mass, 250 x 100 = 25,000.
So a chest x-ray is probably 25,000x more powerful than a sellotape finger x-ray. Probably a lot more than that. Or, put another way, a sellotape x-ray is 1/25,000th as powerful as a chest x-ray.
This is ignoring issues like alpha, beta, scattering, focussing etc.
You can even do it orally too, if you don't mind putting a white substance in your mouth...
http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howthingswork/a/aa060601a.htm
Candy triboluminescence - oh noes - evil candy - bannit! BANNIT!
Ooh, let's guess at some numbers:
A chest is about 50x thicker and more dense than a finger (ribs, spine etc) and probably 1000x the mass. (finger = 20gr, chest = 20 kilo approx)
Radiation falls off as the square of distance, so for the thickness of a chest (plus greater distance from source), 50^2= 250, and say, 100x for the mass, 250 x 100 = 25,000.
So a chest x-ray is probably 25,000x more powerful than a sellotape finger x-ray. Probably a lot more than that. Or, put another way, a sellotape x-ray is 1/25,000th as powerful as a chest x-ray.
This is ignoring issues like alpha, beta, scattering, focussing etc.