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MacGyver Science
Scientists have used a roll of Scotch tape to take X-rays - moreover, the effect may be the key to nuclear fusion. Seriously.
Addendum: This short slide show is better than the article at giving you the scoop on this finding.
Posted by Alex Tabarrok on October 29, 2008 at 11:24 AM in Science | Permalink
Comments
Yeah, but here you see the chilling effect of the improper application of Intellectual Property and how it can stifle innovation:
"The details of what is occurring on the molecular scale are not known, the scientists said, in part because the Scotch adhesive remains a trade secret."
Posted by: Andrew at Oct 29, 2008 12:00:01 PM
It must be the secret ingredient (scotch).
Posted by: MikeF at Oct 29, 2008 12:27:02 PM
Andrew is misunderstanding intellectual property protection. In the absence of protection, all intellectual property becomes held as trade secrets, while patent protection makes public processes and ingredients.
Posted by: djg at Oct 29, 2008 12:30:37 PM
djg is correct. This is a point I have made before, opponents of patents often make the mistake of thinking that without patents everything would be public domain when in fact trade secrecy would be used more often. As a proponent of patent reform I recognize the costs of the patent system but we don't want to overstate the benefits of eliminating patents.
Posted by: Alex Tabarrok at Oct 29, 2008 12:59:17 PM
That's pretty tenuous link from peeling tape to nuclear fusion. It's nice to see the Times changing it up a little. Usually the default pie-in-the-sky outcome is "faster supercomputers."
Posted by: David at Oct 29, 2008 12:59:36 PM
Whatever, David.
It makes the story at least 10 times better.
Posted by: josh at Oct 29, 2008 1:29:29 PM
Ditto, Alex, on patents. Patents serve a net good because they cause much more transparency on the marketplace of ideas. Copyrights are more than just a bit too long imo.
Posted by: Jorge Landivar at Oct 29, 2008 1:51:56 PM
And here I always thought it would be duct tape.
Posted by: H Man at Oct 29, 2008 1:59:00 PM
And here I always thought it would be duct tape.
Posted by: H Man at Oct 29, 2008 1:59:08 PM
A trade secret is one kind of intellectual property protection.
Posted by: Norman Pfyster at Oct 29, 2008 3:01:50 PM
josh, Whatever?
Posted by: David at Oct 29, 2008 3:23:47 PM
Sounds like static electricity to me. Ever rub a balloon on your hair and see sparks?
Posted by: Tom Hanna at Oct 29, 2008 4:44:38 PM
The nuclear fusion bit is quite silly. Accelerating deuterium or tritium ions to energies sufficient for nuclear reactions has not been a serious problem for many years -- has been done on the tabletop since the 1930s (Cockcroft and Walton). The difficulty in nuclear fusion for energy production is getting enough of the ions to react before they lose energy to collisions and ionization. Simply directing the ions at a passive target fails, since only a tiny fraction will react before slowing to a stop.
Posted by: Paul F. Dietz at Oct 29, 2008 5:07:29 PM
"There are still many tape mysteries for the scientists to unravel."
-- pun found in slide show.
H man note: duct tape works in some circumstances as well.
Posted by: ZBicyclist at Oct 29, 2008 8:03:44 PM
Er, yeah. It has been known for a long time that unspooling large sheets of insulators, like paper or photographic film, will lead to electrostatic discharge. In the case of film, this results in lighting-like marks that are called (big surprise) static marks. In paper factories, it is an industrial hazard.
Posted by: Eric H at Oct 29, 2008 9:01:15 PM
Copyrights are more than just a bit too long imo.
Berna treaty makes mandatory for the signers, almost every western country,a protection for 75 years after the death of author.That more than the USA.
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