And here I was worried about my cellphone cooking my brain...
October 23, 2008 7:41 PM Subscribe
UCLA researchers produce X-Rays by unpeeling Scotch Tape. That's right, Scotch Tape.
Video (sorry it's Flash) of this curious example of triboluminescence.
Video (sorry it's Flash) of this curious example of triboluminescence.
Remember to check your haggis for gamma rays.
posted by stavrogin at 8:00 PM on October 23, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by stavrogin at 8:00 PM on October 23, 2008 [2 favorites]
hmm, this completely changes the way I think about black holes...
posted by fuq at 8:08 PM on October 23, 2008
posted by fuq at 8:08 PM on October 23, 2008
...and tape!
posted by humannaire at 8:13 PM on October 23, 2008
posted by humannaire at 8:13 PM on October 23, 2008
Actually, this news is astonishing. Did you see the x-ray of that guy's finger? I mean you can see x-rayed bone, from Scotch tape!
That triboluminescence (which sounds like some kind of tribal group high or something) link of yours got me googling (uh oh, linkage ahead). It mentions things I've never heard about before, not just from Scotch tape but there's this mechanoluminescence thing, from earthquakes, (example) too. And WintOgreen lifesavers? Say wha? I have to see this stuff. I got to get me some of those lifesavers and eat them in the dark in front of a mirror and see.
Eponysterical essay on the WintOgreen lifesavers. Are these things safe to munch on?
I didn't know sugar is a piezoelectric material. A former Soviet company is making piezoelectric devices, whatever they are (for pressure and vibration sensors it says). Somehow the crystal they make look very Russian. Pretty. Dang, these things are used for "textile machines, valves, components, braille keyboards and inhalers". I wonder how?
"all opaque candy made with sugar: transparent candy doesn't work" huh. That's weird. Reality is so weird.
posted by nickyskye at 8:20 PM on October 23, 2008 [7 favorites]
That triboluminescence (which sounds like some kind of tribal group high or something) link of yours got me googling (uh oh, linkage ahead). It mentions things I've never heard about before, not just from Scotch tape but there's this mechanoluminescence thing, from earthquakes, (example) too. And WintOgreen lifesavers? Say wha? I have to see this stuff. I got to get me some of those lifesavers and eat them in the dark in front of a mirror and see.
Eponysterical essay on the WintOgreen lifesavers. Are these things safe to munch on?
I didn't know sugar is a piezoelectric material. A former Soviet company is making piezoelectric devices, whatever they are (for pressure and vibration sensors it says). Somehow the crystal they make look very Russian. Pretty. Dang, these things are used for "textile machines, valves, components, braille keyboards and inhalers". I wonder how?
"all opaque candy made with sugar: transparent candy doesn't work" huh. That's weird. Reality is so weird.
posted by nickyskye at 8:20 PM on October 23, 2008 [7 favorites]
Now I feel like Madame Curie whenever I get a swatch of cellotape. At least I'm not licking paintbrushes. Or having my feet sized. I wonder what else we do today that we'll discover in 50 years was a bad idea.
posted by seanmpuckett at 8:27 PM on October 23, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by seanmpuckett at 8:27 PM on October 23, 2008 [1 favorite]
The details of what is occurring on the molecular scale to generate high-energy photons are not known, the scientists said, in part because the Scotch tape adhesive remains a trade secret.
Oh, for crying out loud, is it that hard to do a chemical analysis? There's a whole bunch of stuff in the patent filings to get you started.
posted by crapmatic at 8:28 PM on October 23, 2008
Oh, for crying out loud, is it that hard to do a chemical analysis? There's a whole bunch of stuff in the patent filings to get you started.
posted by crapmatic at 8:28 PM on October 23, 2008
"Russian scientists reported as far back as 1953 that they had detected X-rays from tape. "
So... Americans recreate old research, take credit for "new" discovery. That's science under the Bush Administration for you.
posted by banished at 8:39 PM on October 23, 2008 [1 favorite]
So... Americans recreate old research, take credit for "new" discovery. That's science under the Bush Administration for you.
posted by banished at 8:39 PM on October 23, 2008 [1 favorite]
Russian scientists reported as far back as 1953 that they had detected X-rays from tape.
Triboluminescence was discovered way earlier.
The first recorded observation however, occurred even earlier and is attributed to English scholar Francis Bacon when he wrote in his 1620 "Novum Organum" that "It is well known that all sugar, whether candied or plain, if it be hard, will sparkle when broken or scraped in the dark."
Now you got me all excited about this strange light frequency thing. Diamonds glow when they are rubbed or faceted.
Here's a video of a cloud reflecting mechanoluminescence rainbow light about a half hour before the great earthquake in China this year. 10 minutes before the earthquake. Might be a good tell-tale predictor in the future, one the hints to put in the prediction/preparedness book.
These are the kinds of things that people might have thought were "strange signs" or portents without knowing the science behind the story. I remember in the 70's reading about weird stuff like a rain of fish and thinking people must have been mass hallucinating or fabricating stuff but that really does happen, with worms even.
Science is so cool.
posted by nickyskye at 8:45 PM on October 23, 2008 [9 favorites]
Triboluminescence was discovered way earlier.
The first recorded observation however, occurred even earlier and is attributed to English scholar Francis Bacon when he wrote in his 1620 "Novum Organum" that "It is well known that all sugar, whether candied or plain, if it be hard, will sparkle when broken or scraped in the dark."
Now you got me all excited about this strange light frequency thing. Diamonds glow when they are rubbed or faceted.
Here's a video of a cloud reflecting mechanoluminescence rainbow light about a half hour before the great earthquake in China this year. 10 minutes before the earthquake. Might be a good tell-tale predictor in the future, one the hints to put in the prediction/preparedness book.
These are the kinds of things that people might have thought were "strange signs" or portents without knowing the science behind the story. I remember in the 70's reading about weird stuff like a rain of fish and thinking people must have been mass hallucinating or fabricating stuff but that really does happen, with worms even.
Science is so cool.
posted by nickyskye at 8:45 PM on October 23, 2008 [9 favorites]
I wonder what else we do today that we'll discover in 50 years was a bad idea.
Cell phones.
posted by piratebowling at 8:56 PM on October 23, 2008 [2 favorites]
Cell phones.
posted by piratebowling at 8:56 PM on October 23, 2008 [2 favorites]
By the way, don't be too freaked out, as it only emits significantly in a vacuum.
posted by Mercaptan at 9:12 PM on October 23, 2008
posted by Mercaptan at 9:12 PM on October 23, 2008
You know it's called Scotch tape because people from Scotland are supposed to be stingy. It was also called Sheep Fucker Tape and Resentful Drunk Tape.
posted by Astro Zombie at 9:16 PM on October 23, 2008 [4 favorites]
posted by Astro Zombie at 9:16 PM on October 23, 2008 [4 favorites]
I took the first few weeks of a Quantum Mechanics class taught by Seth Putterman.
I think he spent more time ranting about how Economists get Nobel Prizes for discovering partial differential equations three hundred years after the physicists did than he spent teaching.
posted by chimaera at 9:17 PM on October 23, 2008 [2 favorites]
I think he spent more time ranting about how Economists get Nobel Prizes for discovering partial differential equations three hundred years after the physicists did than he spent teaching.
posted by chimaera at 9:17 PM on October 23, 2008 [2 favorites]
The world was supposed to end when they turned on the Large Hadron Collider, but it will really end when they repeat this experiment with duct tape.
posted by lukemeister at 9:28 PM on October 23, 2008
posted by lukemeister at 9:28 PM on October 23, 2008
Here's a video of a cloud reflecting mechanoluminescence rainbow light about a half hour before the great earthquake in China this year.
Interesting. There were lights just like that in the sky in LA once. I think it was about a month before the Northridge quake. They were reported in the paper to have possibly been due to some rocket fuel from a missile test.
posted by fshgrl at 9:43 PM on October 23, 2008
Interesting. There were lights just like that in the sky in LA once. I think it was about a month before the Northridge quake. They were reported in the paper to have possibly been due to some rocket fuel from a missile test.
posted by fshgrl at 9:43 PM on October 23, 2008
fshgrl, here's a photograph I just found on Flickr of one of those pretty rainbow light clouds, apparently they can also be a circumhorizontal arc, another one and another, another (they're so beautiful I can't stop looking at these amazing rainbow clouds), unrelated to seismic activity. Cloud sun dogs. I don't know how one would tell the difference though.
posted by nickyskye at 10:01 PM on October 23, 2008
posted by nickyskye at 10:01 PM on October 23, 2008
triboluminesce was mentioned in Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman, where Feynman was expounding on the necessity of developing the scientific mind not by filling a vessel but lighting a lamp, basically.
posted by troy at 10:04 PM on October 23, 2008
posted by troy at 10:04 PM on October 23, 2008
Unpeeling? Is that like unthawing your TV dinner?
posted by rokusan at 10:16 PM on October 23, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by rokusan at 10:16 PM on October 23, 2008 [1 favorite]
Here's a video of a cloud reflecting mechanoluminescence rainbow light about a half hour before the great earthquake in China this year.
I have a rock that kept tigers away until about an hour before the China earthquake.
Then one chomped my nuts off.
I got them back.
posted by dirigibleman at 10:19 PM on October 23, 2008 [2 favorites]
I have a rock that kept tigers away until about an hour before the China earthquake.
Then one chomped my nuts off.
I got them back.
posted by dirigibleman at 10:19 PM on October 23, 2008 [2 favorites]
TRUE STORY! band-aids spark when you open the paper protective wrapper in the dark.
posted by joelf at 10:47 PM on October 23, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by joelf at 10:47 PM on October 23, 2008 [1 favorite]
Just get two nice lumps of Quartz and rub them together.Cold light ! very cool glow in a tub of water,and a weird smell done in air.
posted by hortense at 11:25 PM on October 23, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by hortense at 11:25 PM on October 23, 2008 [1 favorite]
Stephen Colbert said on his show tonight that this x-rays from Scotch tape thing was good news because it meant that health care is now affordable.
posted by twoleftfeet at 12:25 AM on October 24, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by twoleftfeet at 12:25 AM on October 24, 2008 [2 favorites]
While I have nothing to add on the science of this totally rad phenomenon, I will say that if you watch the video you will realize that this is not only an amazing scientific discovery, but that it also may be the result of the world most adorable cadre of scientists.
PS - Yes, I said "rad." Tell your kids it's making a comeback.
posted by Panjandrum at 12:59 AM on October 24, 2008 [1 favorite]
PS - Yes, I said "rad." Tell your kids it's making a comeback.
posted by Panjandrum at 12:59 AM on October 24, 2008 [1 favorite]
At least I'm not licking paintbrushes. Or having my feet sized. I wonder what else we do today that we'll discover in 50 years was a bad idea.
You can add radiation treatment of ringworm to your list.
Mysterious flashes of light are cool, though. I, too have noticed the band-aid glow mentioned by joelf and in the wikipedia link. In fact, I first noticed it about the same time that I learned about triboluminescence in organic chemistry class. Curad brand bandages seemed to work best, but that was 20+ years ago, so they might have changed the adhesive. I did look into it at one point and seem to remember that the adhesive glow wasn't really triboluminescence as it did not involve fracturing a crystal; I think static electricity was the suspected mechanism. So it makes sense that other wavelengths of radiation could be emitted as well.
posted by TedW at 1:43 AM on October 24, 2008
You can add radiation treatment of ringworm to your list.
Mysterious flashes of light are cool, though. I, too have noticed the band-aid glow mentioned by joelf and in the wikipedia link. In fact, I first noticed it about the same time that I learned about triboluminescence in organic chemistry class. Curad brand bandages seemed to work best, but that was 20+ years ago, so they might have changed the adhesive. I did look into it at one point and seem to remember that the adhesive glow wasn't really triboluminescence as it did not involve fracturing a crystal; I think static electricity was the suspected mechanism. So it makes sense that other wavelengths of radiation could be emitted as well.
posted by TedW at 1:43 AM on October 24, 2008
Ack. As I was drifting off I had a disturbingly vivid but funny dream - I was transported back to the beginning of July, when I had broken my wrist. I was sitting in the basement waiting for X-rays. The doctor came in and started applying lots of pieces of scotch tape to my arm and then peeling them off. I could see the magnified strands of adhesive sticking to my arm (they were still microscopic, but at the same time perfectly visible, because dreams are cool like that.) I woke myself up flailing my arm.
Maybe I should lay off theWelsh rarebit Metafilter before I go to sleep.
posted by louche mustachio at 5:02 AM on October 24, 2008 [1 favorite]
Maybe I should lay off the
posted by louche mustachio at 5:02 AM on October 24, 2008 [1 favorite]
I was really hoping this story would hit the MeFi front page, I really wanted to see what all the scienticians around this place would have to say (and the smart asses). Thanks!
posted by Pollomacho at 5:14 AM on October 24, 2008
posted by Pollomacho at 5:14 AM on October 24, 2008
Cathode rays (electrons) smacking into things was what got Rontegen going on the whole X-ray thing.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 6:43 AM on October 24, 2008
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 6:43 AM on October 24, 2008
The authors speculate in the Nature paper that geckos' feet may emit X rays by a similar mechanism. I thought these things only happened in Pokémon.
posted by lukemeister at 7:19 AM on October 24, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by lukemeister at 7:19 AM on October 24, 2008 [1 favorite]
At least I'm not licking paintbrushes. Or having my feet sized. I wonder what else we do today that we'll discover in 50 years was a bad idea.
Pesticides.
posted by Mr_Zero at 7:22 AM on October 24, 2008
Pesticides.
posted by Mr_Zero at 7:22 AM on October 24, 2008
cloud reflecting mechanoluminescence rainbow light about a half hour before the great earthquake in China this year
Weather scientists are saying it was a coincidence that there was a rainbow cloud before the earthquake because that type of circumhorizontal arc forms in fine ice crystals in the clouds. That giant earthquake in China happened on May 12th this year. May is a tricky month in terms of weather, sometimes wide swings in temperature at that latitude. It's quite possible there were ice crystals in those clouds.
That said, earthquakes do cause mechanoluminescence, sometimes quite spectacularly, so I think the possible connection between rainbow clouds and earthquakes is something worth looking into.
posted by nickyskye at 8:18 AM on October 24, 2008
Weather scientists are saying it was a coincidence that there was a rainbow cloud before the earthquake because that type of circumhorizontal arc forms in fine ice crystals in the clouds. That giant earthquake in China happened on May 12th this year. May is a tricky month in terms of weather, sometimes wide swings in temperature at that latitude. It's quite possible there were ice crystals in those clouds.
That said, earthquakes do cause mechanoluminescence, sometimes quite spectacularly, so I think the possible connection between rainbow clouds and earthquakes is something worth looking into.
posted by nickyskye at 8:18 AM on October 24, 2008
i have both used scotch tape and been in an x-ray lab...now that i think of it, they both smell the same... can x-rays have a smell?
posted by sexyrobot at 11:34 AM on October 24, 2008
posted by sexyrobot at 11:34 AM on October 24, 2008
I've a friend who works in and has a couple of patents in the . field of . tribology (the study of rubbing / friction and not be be confused with frottage) mostly to do with the actions and reactions of magnetic tape moving at high speed across heads, capstans, and rollers. They worry about ISV (instantaneous speed variation), vibration, stretching, lubrication, and the dread brown stain.
I don't think they worry much about x-rays or room temperature nuclear fusion.
Perhaps they should.
Or perhaps this is all western reductionist poppycock and triboluminescence is really named for the Uncompahgre Ute tribe of Native Americans who apparently invented it.
Or not. I see this 'fact' referred to in many places in The Tubes but all roads seem to lead back to Wikipedia. I'd like to see some independent verification.
posted by Herodios at 1:15 PM on October 24, 2008 [1 favorite]
I don't think they worry much about x-rays or room temperature nuclear fusion.
Perhaps they should.
Or perhaps this is all western reductionist poppycock and triboluminescence is really named for the Uncompahgre Ute tribe of Native Americans who apparently invented it.
Or not. I see this 'fact' referred to in many places in The Tubes but all roads seem to lead back to Wikipedia. I'd like to see some independent verification.
posted by Herodios at 1:15 PM on October 24, 2008 [1 favorite]
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posted by nickyskye at 7:49 PM on October 23, 2008