Scotch tape surprises everyone by producing X-rays
![](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/nObSfNnTJZCiIpSBxyIEyg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MQ--/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/UGdOmNylguhl3PpgrOE1cQ--~B/aD0zODc7dz01ODA7YXBwaWQ9eXRhY2h5b24-/https://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2008/10/xray_tape_36.jpg)
As far as we're concerned, sticky tape is mostly just for out-there modding projects, but scientists have confirmed another use for it: X-rays. After hearing word of research in that direction by Soviet scientists in the 1950s, researchers at UCLA peeled scotch tape at 1.18 inches per second in a vacuum chamber and found that X-ray pulses were emitted by the process. A human thumb has already been successfully X-rayed by this technique, and if future investigation proceeds swimmingly, paramedics and aid workers operating off the grid might be able to do X-rays without bulky and dangerous nuclear technologies. We'll admit it -- we never saw scotch tape X-rays coming, but then, neither did you, right?
[Via Switched]