MacGyver Style: X-Ray Vision

Every now and then we stumble across something so weird/cool that it makes us think of our old friend “MacGyver“.

While browsing around the web this morning we stumbled across this and thought we would share. The next time that you’re “wrapping a package to send to your cousin who lives 200 miles away”, we hope you realize that you’ve probably just exposed yourself to some “Xray like radiation”.

Researchers from the University of California proved that relative motion between two contacting surfaces can produce visible light (called triboluminescence).

The study, conducted using common adhesive tape, produced an Xray capable of taking a picture of a human finger (using the entire roll).

It kinda makes you wonder how much xray exposure you actually get in a year from doing normal, everyday task.

[info via Nature Magazine]

-Dr Ben

Tags: macgyver style, research, science, xray