"Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me

[Lord of nothing]

When I watch the Kreosan Guys who one of them hold the Hand between the X-Ray "Lamp" and a Sheet of Glowing stuff under the X-Ray Radiation. Normally on a Medical X-Ray the Radiation is very short (sry I dont know how long exactly).
So what are the consequence of for him? Cancer?

[TimFox]

Physicians used to use "fluoroscopes", where a fluorescent screen was placed between the observer and the patient, and x rays were sent through the patient to the screen.  It was necessary to dark-adapt ones eyes before the examination.  I shudder to think of the dose to all concerned with these inefficient screens.  The modern equivalent uses image-intensifying equipment and enhanced screens (with metal sheets that convert the x-ray photons to electrons that give more light from the screen).
If you look at the spectrum of photons from an x-ray tube, you see the characteristic (e.g., K-alpha) lines sticking up from a broad spectrum from Bremsstrahlung that has a definite end-point corresponding to the tube voltage.  The mean energy is substantially lower than the voltage, and the lower part of the spectrum is attenuated by "filtration".  For medical uses, typically an aluminum filter plate is inserted in the tube window to reduce the low-energy photons, since they are absorbed quickly and don't contribute any useful information to the image, but damage the patient's skin.   

[KaneTW]

When I watch the Kreosan Guys who one of them hold the Hand between the X-Ray "Lamp" and a Sheet of Glowing stuff under the X-Ray Radiation. Normally on a Medical X-Ray the Radiation is very short (sry I dont know how long exactly).
So what are the consequence of for him? Cancer?

Depends on the intensity. Probably nothing at all.

[TimFox]

One book I consulted about radiation safety had a frontispiece photograph of the hands of Roentgen's chief technician after a career where they were irradiated.  Not a pretty sight.

[Lord of nothing]

  Stupid Question could the Laser Guy with his "Death Ray" reach the ISS? 
I would say its not a good idea to  blind some Astronauts.

On the other Hand get some Keyhole Sat out of Business are not a bad idea. 

[jogri]

Physicians used to use "fluoroscopes", where a fluorescent screen was placed between the observer and the patient, and x rays were sent through the patient to the screen.  It was necessary to dark-adapt ones eyes before the examination.  I shudder to think of the dose to all concerned with these inefficient screens.  The modern equivalent uses image-intensifying equipment and enhanced screens (with metal sheets that convert the x-ray photons to electrons that give more light from the screen).
If you look at the spectrum of photons from an x-ray tube, you see the characteristic (e.g., K-alpha) lines sticking up from a broad spectrum from Bremsstrahlung that has a definite end-point corresponding to the tube voltage.  The mean energy is substantially lower than the voltage, and the lower part of the spectrum is attenuated by "filtration".  For medical uses, typically an aluminum filter plate is inserted in the tube window to reduce the low-energy photons, since they are absorbed quickly and don't contribute any useful information to the image, but damage the patient's skin.

One thing to add about those nasty things: They were not just used for a quick examination, but during entire operations in war times to find bullets/shrapnel inside of patients... You had to turn the patient regularly if you didn't want him to get a xray "sunburn".

@Lord: With the right optic that's not a problem at all (+if you have the right laser), all Apollo missions left corner reflectors on the moon to determine the Moon-earth distance (you get a 6.5 km wide beam at the moon...). This guy probably had a 915/980nm IR laser and since nothing in the air absorbs at those wavelengths, he could have reached the ISS. But i'd take the guess that his small DIY Cassegrain reflector wasn't designed for this use, so the beam probably expanded way too much to be visible against background.

[coppercone2]

Stupid Question could the Laser Guy with his "Death Ray" reach the ISS? 
I would say its not a good idea to  blind some Astronauts.

On the other Hand get some Keyhole Sat out of Business are not a bad idea. 

the ISS moves too quick and the beam will be too diffuse at that point to do anything but potentially mess with sensors (possibly something used for weather / spectroscopic studies)

Not to mention the air force (space force) will probably send something to investigate if its persistent. It's probably considered a threat to early warning satellites for missile detection.

btw what do you call the space force version of special forces for dealing with ground based stuff that effects space? red shirts?

[KL27x]

China: sends $1500 laser in pink foam and cardboard.
US component distributor: ships an IC socket in foil bag.

[edy]

I also enjoy styropyro's videos... he is hilarious in a sarcastic sort of way. In this video he tests a laser tattoo removal system from China that ends up destroying his cameras (and hopefully not his eyes):



He is very funny and does some crazy builds too all while still managing to be quite educational for a YouTuber.

[bsfeechannel]

This guy does it the safe way.

[0culus]

Styropyro isn't an idiot either...he is is actually a degree-holding chemist in real life. I think he mentioned he finished his PhD a while back. He has also taken measures to build a fully shielded lab for his experiments.

[coppercone2]

Styropyro isn't an idiot either...he is is actually a degree-holding chemist in real life. I think he mentioned he finished his PhD a while back. He has also taken measures to build a fully shielded lab for his experiments.

if you did not notice in the corporate world, PhD is usually considered a lab/shop hazard in many cases. Put one around a industrial electrician/technician/engineer (not a cubical engineer), and bricks are shit.

They don't like 'time wasters' like 'connect the wires and then turn the equipment on'. After this, sparks occur. I would put a 6? amp limit on when PhD's get scary. Under 6A you might get smoke or a replacement.

If you do something smart, like connect wires then take five minutes to make sure the area is clean and there is nothing wrong, check the polarity, maybe even double check the wiring diagram, flip the switch, its like lighting a wad of money on fire to them.

[0culus]

At my job, the PhDs are mostly not complete idiots about practical things. But, as Ron White so eloquently put it, you can't fix stupid. A PhD certainly won't fix stupid.

But my impression of styropyro is that he isn't nearly as much of an idiot as he acts for entertainment value.

[dbctronic]

When I was in high school (late 60s), a friend made a Jacob's ladder using the transformer from an X-ray unit that was used in shoe stores (many years before) to check for foot bone problems caused by ill fitting shoes.

Imagine working around that all day, selling shoes.

The transformer was as big as a breadbox, and made a very thick, noisy, turbulent arc that easily started at 6" and walked up to points at the top of the ladder about 14" apart, where it died with a pop. I had no desire to play with it, ever. No, no, no.

[Red Squirrel]

I'm normally not one to freak out over this stuff, but the fact that a laser like this can blind someone instantly, I do feel it was used in a very unsafe manner.  Even the testing was being done in a room with a window.  If anyone walking outside happened to glance in and catch a refraction of the laser.  Instant blindness.  You will not see it since it's IR which makes it even worse as your pupils won't naturally close, but even if it was visible light, at those power levels it will not happen fast enough anyway.

Something like this should have been done inside a completely enclosed area with no windows and everyone wearing proper eye safety gear.   

As cool as it was, it was just super unsafe to anyone that happened to be in the area. 

[Lord of nothing]

[paulca]

Eh...who cares?

People do crazy stuff with advanced tech all the time. At least he isn't being destructive, could be way worse, could be this guy.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Heemeyer

People messing around with high tech stuff....  This guy made my jaw drop.  So much press about people worried about the scientists in white lab coats in ivery castles in BIG PHARMA, when the most cutting edge (and probably illegal) genetic modification and virus creation is happening with human testing in "Mom's basement"

[paulca]

Now imagine Mythbusters sacked all the health and safety lawyers and moved to Finland?

[Red Squirrel]

Honestly I'd say explosives are less dangerous than high powered lasers.  You setup a proper exclusion zone, follow basic safety protocols and all is good.  The radius of danger is much lower.

With lasers out in the open there is too much chance of striking an aircraft or person as the danger zone is pretty much within LOS.    At high power levels you don't even need a direct hit, just the reflection off an object is enough to cause blindness.   

I feel this test should have been done inside a hockey rink or other fully enclosed area with no windows.  Rent the ice for a day (probably get a good rate at this time of year given there is no actual ice) and do all the experiments in there.  Replace the laser with a spot light to do the outside stuff for the sake of showing off the vehicle mount. 


I remember hearing about Marvin Heemeyer, TBH I side with him and it's a really sad story really.   There is nothing more infuriating than bureaucracy involving zoning, permits, land use, and all that BS.   Try to make a living and the government always gets their dirty hands in your affairs, it's probably one of the most frustrating things in life to deal with when you're told you can't do something in the very place you live and paid for to live in.