

Sticky tape gives off X-Rays - nkurz
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/2268/sticky-tape-gives-x-rays

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eru
Try at home: Opening some envelopes (or similar) fast produces a blue light.

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ilyak
Wow, is that cerenkov radiation?

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ars
Doubtful. Probably static electricity.

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eru
Probably. My flatmate was still impressed, when I showed him.

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aw3c2
This is about a year old, so what has happened in the meantime?

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unwind
The scientists have been trying to get that #¤%& tape off their hands, so they
can keep working.

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antirez
Is this dangerous for people using a lot of stick tape?

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Hexstream
"The pulses last for a billionth of a second, with an intensity of 100
milliwatts."

And this was in a vacuum "to reduce the interference of gas particles".

So I guess not.

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antirez
Thanks. Still I wonder how it was possible to xray a finger using (if I guess
correctly form what's written in the article) a single sticky tape without it
emitting enough radiations to be dangerous for people unrolling a lot of
sticky tape for work, with similar speed of 3 cm/s (this is more or less the
"natural" unrolling speed when you are packing something requiring large
strips).

