Wow, this is just so cool and no radiation.

Tape measure: X-rays detected from Scotch tape

By MALCOLM RITTER, AP Science Writer Malcolm Ritter, Ap Science Writer – Wed Oct 22, 8:59 pm ET AP – This undated composite image provided by the UCLA Laboratory of Low Temperatures and Acoustics, shows …


This undated image provided by the UCLA Laboratory of Low Temperatures and Acoustics shows an x-ray dental detector on top of a vacuum chamber with a roll of Scotch tape mounted on ball bearings inside. Just two weeks after a Nobel Prize highlighted theoretical work on subatomic particles, physicists are announcing a startling discovery about a much more familiar form of matter: Scotch tape. (AP Photo/ UCLA


NEW YORK – Just two weeks after a Nobel Prize highlighted theoretical work on subatomic particles, physicists are announcing a startling discovery about a much more familiar form of matter: Scotch tape. It turns out that if you peel the popular adhesive tape off its roll in a vacuum chamber, it emits X-rays. The researchers even made an X-ray image of one of their fingers.

Who knew? Actually, more than 50 years ago, some Russian scientists reported evidence of X-rays from peeling sticky tape off glass. But the new work demonstrates that you can get a lot of X-rays, a study co-author says.

"We were very surprised," said Juan Escobar. "The power you could get from just peeling tape was enormous."

Escobar, a graduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles, reports the work with UCLA