Do you aspire to be a TSA agent but don’t want to get into the politics of the issue?
Well, you might soon be able to fulfill your privacy-killing dreams with only a smartphone.
The University of Texas at Dallas has developed a new microchip that could feasibly be used to create x-ray capable smartphones and digital cameras. This is an incredible technological development, and yet with every technological advance, we ought to consider the possible consequences from using this technology.
Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is the potential for privacy abuses and perversion. Then again, what if medical mission teams could be equipped with a few of what I’m calling “xPhones”? Amazing, right? And what about security? It could be so much easier to search for drugs, weapons, and other contraband if police had xPhones?
Is this too dangerous to our privacy to be a good thing or is it just too awesome to worry about? Is there a middle ground?
[via Digital Trends | Image via Andres Moreno]
Stephen Peterson says
Well, since X-rays are based on radiation, I could see some potential issues with carrying a portable X-ray device. I’m still not really sure how this technology would work.
Phil Schneider says
Technically, it’s radioactive in the same way that your smartphone already is radioactive. But then again, this could be how the zombie apocalypse begins. If so, you’ll hear about it first, right here on ChurchMag.
In all seriousness, thanks for the feedback. I do often wonder what damage we are doing to ourselves with our technology that we are, as of yet, unable to detect.
Stephen Peterson says
X-rays actually use radioactive materials, though, while smartphones just emit microwaves. Yes, both are technically forms of radiation, but the first will continue even when the device is off.
Phil Schneider says
That’s true, but that’s what makes this so awesome. They believe they’ve found a way to generate the electromagnetic waves without the radioactive materials. So, it wouldn’t be traditional “x-rays,” though that is the range of the electromagnetic spectrum they hope to tap into. (If I read the article right. I’m a history major. Not a physicist.)
Stephen Peterson says
That would be cool. I’m not a physicist, either. I’m only basing my observations on two years of chemistry.
Phil Schneider says
That’s cool. I’m basing my observations off of Doctor Who and Burn Notice.
thyrkas says
Wow – what an idea! As an x-ray tech I find this especially interesting. Just to make a distinction, though, there is a difference between things that are radioactive (e.g.,naturally occuring uranium, or man-made radiocactive pharmaceuticals used in Nuclear Medicine imaging, PET imaging and radiation therapy), and things that have the potential to produce x-rays, as in the anode and cathode in the tube of x-ray equipment. Presently, X-ray tubes need a minimum of about 50 kilovolts and 5mA applied across an anode and cathode to make a techinique capable of producing a finger x-ray. Even if current R&D has come up with another way to produce x-rays, I think one x-ray exposure from a cell phone would be all a little battery could possibly produce! As far as I know, anything that produces measurable levels of radiation is regulated due to health related concerns, since we know radiation can cause biological changes, or damage in the human body. My thought is that this app will have to prove that it causes no ill-health effects before it can get out to the public – and that could take a very long time.
Phil Schneider says
Great points. I’m sure that this chip will be making its rounds through a number of labs and passing a ton of tests before its every commercially released.