Visible Light 'X-Ray' Sees Through Solid Objects

disco_tracy writes "Some day we may not need X-rays to see inside people, thanks to a new way to decipher light that passes through opaque surfaces. Normally visible light becomes too scattered to detect after passing through opaque surfaces. But scientists in France have developed a way to reconstruct images from light passing through such surfaces by deciphering just how the material makes the light scatter. In the short term the research will help improve the strength of telecommunications signals and fiber optics cables, but years from now the technology could supplement or even replace traditional ultrasounds for baby imaging and X-rays for weapons detection at airports."

A new way to make pr0n?

[MrEricSir]

This will make the "xray" threads on /b/ waaay more interesting.

Babies at airports ARE weapons

[Anonymous Coward]

I say why stop at x-rays. Gamma rays are too good for them.

Re:We don't use X-rays to see in utero fetii

[eleuthero]

But don't you realize that everything is interconnected? Even if a bomb is totally obscured by thirty tons of rice around it in a packing crate, it will be detectable by taking a visible-light picture of the period in U.S.A. on the side of the separately packaged delivery manifest. This is the great thing about technology, it is always bringing us ever closer to a world where the primary question on our lips should be, "Do you know where your towel is?"

Re:Visible? Opaque?

[noidentity]

How does visible light make its way through an opaque object?

Simple, on exit from the opaque object, the light has turned invisible. This new device can see the invisible light.

Re:Visible? Opaque?

[ceoyoyo]

It just so happens that your object here is only MOSTLY opaque. There's a big difference between mostly opaque and all opaque. Mostly opaque is slightly transparent. With all opaque, well, with all opaque there's usually only one thing you can do.

Re:Visible? Opaque?

[edjs]

It's called Ballistic light [wikipedia.org].

Eventually, you get enough ballistic photons through that you can map out an image.

And if you get the light strong enough, you resolve the opacity issue permanently, once the smoke clears.