FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - New security technology? HOU
View Single Post
Old Aug 4, 2014 | 1:00 pm
  #15  
mikeef
FlyerTalk Evangelist
10 Countries Visited
20 Countries Visited
30 Countries Visited
20 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Finally back in Boston after escaping from New York
Posts: 13,684
Originally Posted by RadioGirl
I wasted my high school years on physics and maths, and mostly slept through chemistry, but I believe barium is used as a contrast agent (because it's dense and blocks x-ray energy) rather than a radioactive source in medical imaging. There are radioactive isotopes of barium but I don't think they're used in medicine. And there are radioactive isotopes (iodine, fluorodeoxyglucose) that are ingested for medical scans. (Yeah, I'm an expert after 15 minutes on the inter-tubes. )

All the same, assuming you can obtain a radioactive source, why drink it at all?

Just carry it in an 8 ounce drink bottle in your carry-on. It's just as likely (I assume) to set off a radiation detector as if ingested.

And for bonus points you can "voluntarily surrender" the bottle at the checkpoint. @:-) That'll teach 'em to throw all the dangerous non-dangerous dangerous liquids in the regular trash can.
Show off.

Mike
mikeef is offline