Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!ukma!gatech!mcnc!uvaarpa!hudson!biochsn!wrp
From: wrp@biochsn.acc.virginia.edu (William R. Pearson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Laptops and Airport Security
Message-ID: <233@hudson.acc.virginia.edu>
Date: 6 Feb 88 02:26:05 GMT
References: <4426@garfield.UUCP> <3056@killer.UUCP> <3492@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> <1587@ea.ecn.purdue.edu>
Sender: news@hudson.acc.virginia.edu
Reply-To: wrp@biochsn.acc.Virginia.EDU (William R. Pearson)
Organization: University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Lines: 18
Keywords: Laptop, X-rays


	I think it is very interesting how conjecture can turn into
rumor can turn into fact.  Has anyone on the net ever had the actual
experience of having an EPROM damaged by XRAY?  I would be very sur-
prised.  X-RAYS in airports are so weak that they do not damage film,
which is extraodinarily sensitive to light, including XRAYS (just
take some film to your dentist's).  EPROMS are very insensitive to
light, you have to shine a certain wavelength of UV light at a high
intensity for several minutes.

	I think the reason people are concerned about floppy disks and
airport XRAYs is the magnetic flux of the motors and possibly the ?
(coils, tubes) that generate the XRAYS, not the xrays themselves.  It
has been my experience that floppy disks are very difficult to damage,
I think that much of this advice err's on the side of caution.

Bill Pearson
wrp@virginia