# How to make X-Rays: First, get some Scotch Tape. Newslink **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 22, 2008, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-x-rays-first-get-some-scotch-tape-newslink/469146 "2008-10-22T23:22:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-x-rays-first-get-some-scotch-tape-newslink/469146/1 "2008-10-22T23:22:02Z")
I’ll be damned. Scotch Tape can made radiation! So says UCLA Scientists! [http://www.nature.com/news/2008/081022/full/news.2008.1185.html](http://www.nature.com/news/2008/081022/full/news.2008.1185.html) > [@](#): > > Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have shown that simply peeling ordinary sticky tape in a vacuum can generate enough X-rays to take an image — of one of the scientists’ own fingers It is not, in fact, dangerous. > [@](#): > > “At some point we were a little bit scared,” says Juan Escobar, a member of the research team. But he and his co-workers soon realized that the X-rays were only emitted when the kit was used in a vacuum. “We don’t want to scare people from using Scotch tape in everyday life,” Escobar adds. It may be able to trigger nuclear fusion reactions. Damn. Duck tape **really is** essential to National Defense!:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-x-rays-first-get-some-scotch-tape-newslink/469146/2 "2008-10-23T00:15:47Z")
This is why I love the Dope. Isn’t it amazing that such a small, simple, and inexpensive reaction could produce so much energy? ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-x-rays-first-get-some-scotch-tape-newslink/469146/3 "2008-10-23T14:55:43Z")
That’s the coolest thing I’ve read in a while. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-x-rays-first-get-some-scotch-tape-newslink/469146/4 "2008-10-23T15:02:16Z")
Damn. I’ve known since I was a kid that pulling tape can generate light (Take some electrical tape into a dark closet and yank it, and watch where the tape is sepasrating. Better still, use friction tape). But i never considered that it might work at wavelengths as short as X-rays. I’ll have to keep an eye on this, to make sure somebody’s not getting carried away. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-x-rays-first-get-some-scotch-tape-newslink/469146/5 "2008-10-23T15:11:48Z")
Wow. I’ll never be able to wrap anything again without thinking of this. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-x-rays-first-get-some-scotch-tape-newslink/469146/6 "2008-10-23T18:44:09Z")
Going to shed a whole new light on Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-x-rays-first-get-some-scotch-tape-newslink/469146/7 "2008-10-23T22:30:07Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > Going to shed a whole new light on Christmas. Gonna shed a whole new light on your innards, too.