News flash: Sticky tape generates X-rays

Recently a group of researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles announced what has been described by the New York Times as a "tour de force of office supply physics." The scientists measured X-ray flashes from a roll of Scotch tape as it was unpeeled.

Watch the full video at Nature

You might wonder if this is relevant to X-ray astronomy, or then again you might not. But we did. After all, Galileo's observation of a chandelier set in motion by an earthquake and Newton's immortal apple led to insights that transformed the understanding of the cosmos.

Read the Chandra Chronicles: http://chandra.harvard.edu/chronicle/0408/scotch/