Originally Posted by NWAFA
You haven't heard about the new x-ray scanner that they want to use? No need to strip, it literally makes ones clothes disappear on the scanner and one appears naked. This isn't a joke. I saw the scanner results and was very embarassed not only for myself, but for the passenger.
Background:
http://physics.isu.edu/radinf/body.htm
These devices operate on a physical process called backscatter. Backscatter uses X-rays that reflect away ("scatter back") from the low-Z material (skin, clothing) but not most high-Z material (metal). Backscatter then makes "reflections" that define the high-Z materials as separate and distinct images from low Z.
I'll be sure to think obscene thoughts, just before going through...
The first time I was SSSS'ed after 9/11, I was wearing a t-shirt, jean shorts, deck shoes, no socks, and carrying nothing but a book (one way flight in Y, hence the search... drove down, flew back). I laughed the entire time. It hasn't gotten any better.
Steve B.