Ask Science
Ask a science question, get a science answer.
Community Rules
Rule 1: Be respectful and inclusive.
Treat others with respect, and maintain a positive atmosphere.
Rule 2: No harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or trolling.
Avoid any form of harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or offensive behavior.
Rule 3: Engage in constructive discussions.
Contribute to meaningful and constructive discussions that enhance scientific understanding.
Rule 4: No AI-generated answers.
Strictly prohibit the use of AI-generated answers. Providing answers generated by AI systems is not allowed and may result in a ban.
Rule 5: Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.
Adhere to community guidelines and comply with instructions given by moderators.
Rule 6: Use appropriate language and tone.
Communicate using suitable language and maintain a professional and respectful tone.
Rule 7: Report violations.
Report any violations of the community rules to the moderators for appropriate action.
Rule 8: Foster a continuous learning environment.
Encourage a continuous learning environment where members can share knowledge and engage in scientific discussions.
Rule 9: Source required for answers.
Provide credible sources for answers. Failure to include a source may result in the removal of the answer to ensure information reliability.
By adhering to these rules, we create a welcoming and informative environment where science-related questions receive accurate and credible answers. Thank you for your cooperation in making the Ask Science community a valuable resource for scientific knowledge.
We retain the discretion to modify the rules as we deem necessary.
view the rest of the comments
There's a story floating around the internet, I can't comment on its truthfulness, that 3M accidentally created one in one of their factories back in the 80s.
Allegedly the plant made adhesive tape, and as such had enormous rolls of plastic that were being spooled or unspooled by machines at very high speed, and at one point the right conditions existed for static electricity to build up in such a way that it created a sort of invisible wall that people were unable to pass through.
You're conflating two phenomena. Peeling adhesive tape produces xrays, and only in a vacuum. The 3M forcefield is from unspooling and slitting rolls of regular plastic.
And a quick google found a reddit post where a secondary source popped up to discuss the event: https://old.reddit.com/r/ElectroBOOM/comments/9jig1l/can_you_confirmdebunk_the_3m_electrostatic/
Peeling tape off carbon blocks also creates Graphene.
Clearly, science just needs to accelerate the peeling of tape off things in variations of surface, material, and velocity to unlock all the universes mysteries
I wonder if this story, true or not, is related to the fact that peeling Scotch tape can produce x-rays.
Exactly where the notion came from.
It was confirmed by the dude who did it.