The airport x-ray machine may fry your ereader or tablet
Dan Seitz Does anybody like going to the airport at all, anymore? We guess there must be a handful of people who enjoy getting zapped by x-rays or groped by some $12 an hour rentacop, but they can’t number so highly that the airport gets a free pass. And now we’ve learned that all this security may be frying Kindles, and probably isn’t good for your tablets, either.
Amazingly, the problem is not, in fact, your stuff being blasted with radiation: electronics manufacturers have been designing their stuff to withstand anything the TSA can throw at it for decades. No, the problem is your friend the rubber belt rolling all that stuff through the x-ray machine.
As you probably remember from high school, rubber, when subjected to friction, collects static electricity. Put, say, a highly sensitive piece of electronics on the belt and ZAP! Instant screen death. These belts can collect easily above 100 volts, more than enough juice to make your ereader useless, and it probably isn’t great for your tablet, either.
The solution? Leave it in the case. If it trundles through with some nylon insulating it, it’ll be just fine, and your friendly local crotch-grabber won’t care because as long as the case is open, he can see right through it.
So, make your holidays a little less stressful, and keep your electronics safe. Or just do what we do every year, tell our families we’ve got the flu and stay home with a huge bottle of scotch and “Call of Duty”. Noobs aren’t going to frag themselves!
Amazon Kindles ‘damaged by airport scanners’ [Telegraph]
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