X-Message-Number: 5478
Date: 26 Dec 95 12:00:56 EST
From: yvan Bozzonetti <>
Subject: SCI.CRYONICS Brain reading with X-rays

In the November issue of PERIASTRONN (Vol. 3,#7, p.7) Dr. Donaldson reports
about an information published in Science (Vol. 270, - 1995- p. 1179-1180) on
how to make flat screens with carbon nanotubes. There was a 2 cm in diameter
device produced.

	I don't know what are the potential market value of these systems as
screen, on the other side I know they are exactly the componement we need to
build a high definition, high sensivity X-ray camera.

	Some time ago I atended a conference on X-rays telescopes given by the
director of the main french observatory. I pointed out to him the value of
refractive carbon lenses over grazing incidence mirrors. The main problem to
solve vas not to make a picture, it was to convert it into recoverable
informations. X-ray pictures are very small for a given focal length, "my"
astronomer suggested to use a microchannel plate amplifier (Something I use as
cheap binocular) maid from nanometer sized carbon tubes.

	With ten nanometers in diameter nanotubes, we can get a 5 nm line
sharpness in the picture or 2 000 000 lines/cm (5 millions lines/inch). A 2 cm
detector would produce a brain picture with 100 nm resolution, as much to seen

the configuration state of large molecular complexes in dendritic buttons at the
end of dendritic spines. There is the root of brain information and structure.

	For the first time, we can shift from speculations about brain reading in
undefined future epoch and start to ponder about it with the technology at hand
today!

		Y. Bozzonetti.


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