Household Sticky Tape gives off X-Rays

This is so awesome:

"Unwinding household sticky tape in a vacuum emits radiation strong enough to X-ray a human figure, according to a new study in the British journal Nature.

"As the tape peels, a charge builds between the opposite charges of the sticky adhesive and the tape and creates an electric field. At reduced pressure in a vacuum, this accelerates electrons on the adhesive to very high speeds and when they whack into the positively-charged tape roll, X-rays result. The pulses last for a billionth of a second, with an intensity of 100 milliwatts."

"It could be possible to create inexpensive x-ray machines for third world countries where electricity is expensive [me: like Cambodia!]," said [UCLA researcher Juan] Escobar."

Full story cosmosmagazine.com. Thanks to hoges for adding to reddit!