Aug 28 2009 Perfect With A Lead Vest: The X-Ray Umbrella

The x-ray umbrella is an umbrella with x-rays all over the damn place. It does NOT allow you to see through a woman's shirt. Unless she's wearing white and it's pouring out, in which case, yes, it does do that. And I've got to tell you: as a guy who's broken his arm twice in the same place and now has a plate and a bunch of screws in there (I am NOT a robot, just a man with an advanced biomechanical arm), I'm no stranger to x-rays. Or those gamma joints. You hear that, Hulk? I will arm wrestle the shit out of you!

X-ray umbrella makes the rain not seem so bad [dvice]

May 4 2009 X-Rays Of Video Game Controllers & Consoles

Flickr user Reintji went and took a bunch of x-rays of video game consoles and controllers, from both today and yesteryear. And also, the future. Just kidding, no future. If time machines existed you'd know it because I'd be writing steamy romance novels about the time I banged a dinosaur but was left only partially satisfied because the third member of our ménage à trois got eaten by a Megalosaurus on the way to the party. So yeah, what I just said. Boom, great tie-in.

Hit the jump for a whole bunch more (use file names for identification) and a link to the full Flickr gallery.

Continue Reading " X-Rays Of Video Game Controllers & Consoles "

Apr 16 2009 AT-AT X-Ray Reveals Shocking Interior

THEY'RE DINOSAURS! No wonder I was always so drawn to the lumbering giants so much. Admit it -- I'm not the only one who's lighted his saber during the Hoth battle scene, right? Right?

AT-AT Walker X-Rayed: It's a Dinosaur! [gizmodo]

Apr 14 2009 'God's Hand' Spotted Using Space Telescope

That's right, son, spotted for the first time since like the year -5 billion: God's hand!

The image, taken by NASA's space-based Chandra Observatory telescope, shows an X-ray nebula 150 light years across.

NASA says the display is caused by a young and powerful pulsar, known by the rather prosaic name of PSR B1509-58.The finger-like structures are apparently caused by "energizing knots of material in a neighboring gas cloud," NASA says.

DAAAAMN! But seriously, God, you might want to have that pinky looked at.

NASA photos show giant cosmic hand [cnn]

Thanks e., I would walk 150 light years, and I would walk 150 more, just to be the man who walked 300 light years to fall down at your door.

Mar 5 2009 Blind Man Sees The Light With Bionic Eye

Ron is a 73-year old who went blind 30 years ago due to mysterious circumstances (the article didn't say). He hasn't been able to see anything since. I'm talking nothing. Pure blackness. But now, thanks to bionic eye surgery, he can finally see the light (again). Did somebody say laser vision? PEW PEW!

It uses a camera and video processor mounted on sunglasses to send captured images wirelessly to a tiny receiver on the outside of the eye. In turn, the receiver passes on the data via a tiny cable to an array of electrodes which sit on the retina - the layer of specialised cells that normally respond to light found at the back of the eye.

When these electrodes are stimulated they send messages along the optic nerve to the brain, which is able to perceive patterns of light and dark spots corresponding to which electrodes have been stimulated.

He says he can now follow white lines on the road, and even sort socks, using the bionic eye, known as Argus II.

Whoa whoa whoa -- let's slow down a minute. I'm all for bionic eyes, but don't you think it's a little early to be out on the road? Just saying. Quick Ron, how many fingers am I holding up? *POW* -- a fistful! Ron, can you see me? Ron? Uh-oh. Bionic eyes aren't expensive, are they? Looks like he might need a nose too.

Bionic eye gives blind man sight [bbcnews]

Thanks to Mal, who can see you through the internet. Mal, now describe to me what the ladies are wearing.

Nov 28 2008 Fool Me Once, Shame On You, Fool Me Twice, Damnit, You Got Me Again: Real X-Ray Specs Here? Geekologie Writer Hopeful

Allegedly David Steele, a pervert, is selling 30 and 58mm lens filters capable of seeing through many kinds of fabric. I've got the feeling they only work with sheer wet t-shirts and fishnets, but whatever: boobs yo, boobs. Each lens costs $200 and purchase includes a free trial subscription to Perv Quarterly, a beard, and a pair of those glasses that tint in sunlight.

40 years later, real X-Ray specs finally hit the market [dvice]

Oct 24 2008 I Smell Cancer!: Scotch Tape Emits X-Rays

So scotch tape can produce x-rays (that's a real picture taken with a 30-second exposure showing visible light emission from a roll).

In a tour de force of office supply physics, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have shown that it is possible to produce X-rays by simply unrolling Scotch tape.

In the current issue of the journal Nature, Dr. Putterman and his colleagues report that surprisingly fierce flows of electrons were unleashed as the tape was unpeeled and its gooey adhesive snapped free of the surface. The electrical currents, in turn, generated strong, short bursts of X-rays -- each burst, about a billionth of a second long, contained about 300,000 X-ray photons.

Great, so now I have finger cancer.

UPDATE: My stapler cured me!

From a Strip of Scotch Tape, X-Rays [nytimes]

Thanks to Raymond, mkaggie, and Sarahj, who have all been exposed to Post-Its.

Oct 6 2008 Passengers Worried X-Ray Security Shots Will Wind Up On Facebook And Myspace

Passengers are worried that pictures from a new x-ray security camera, the "virtual strip search", will end up online and display their privates for the whole social networking world to see.

Readers feel the new security measure has gone too far.

"Sure as heck, some customs officers will make snide remarks about young girls with breast implants and people with piercings in private locations. You betcha some will appear on Facebook or MySpace," said a post on news.com.au

However, authorities insist there's nothing to worry about.

"Faces are blurred and images are not saved and cannot be transferred," said Office of Transport Security executive director Paul Retter.

Oh yeah, because I'm dying to see some fuzzy monochromatic images of a chick's privates on Facebook. Wait....I think I am. Sweet!

Passengers fear airport "virtual strip search" [news.com.au]

Oct 2 2008 Bad Idea: X-Ray Messages For Your Luggage

Evan Roth designed these custom etched metal plates to show up on X-ray machines when your luggage is scanned at the airport. And let me tell you, airport security loooooves a good joke. Like the time I drank a half liter of bourbon waiting for my flight out of Vegas and fell asleep under a chair and missed my flight by four hours. Oh man, they loved that one.

Metal Plate X-Ray Messages - Because Airport Security Officers Have A Great Sense Of Humor [ohgizmo]

Thanks to Heather, who loves being drunk in the airport as much as I do.

Dec 21 2007 See Through Walls: 'Lobster Vision' Camera

The LEXID (Lobster-Eye X-ray Inspection Device) is a new camera made by Physical Optics Corporation of Torrance, California. It works in the same way that a lobster's vision does -- "by beaming X-rays, then focusing on the reflection (rather than refraction) of objects." The device is capable of seeing through wood, concrete, steel, and many other materials. They're coming soon to a nosy government near you. I want to get my hands on one, for obvious reasons. You know what I'm going to use it for right? No, not for looking through the girl's locker room wall. Jesus you people are a bunch of pervs. I'm going to use it for good. By looking through specially marked boxes of Pop Tarts for a sweepstakes-winning ticket. I'm going to that Hannah Montana concert damnit, I'll just die if I don't.

Another picture after the jump showing the actual device.

Continue Reading " See Through Walls: 'Lobster Vision' Camera "

Mar 2 2007 X-Ray of a kiss

Ever wondered what your bones look like when you kiss? Of course you have.You wouldn't be a mentally disturbed crazy person if you didn't.