Xray unopened packs
VikingDude
Posts: 1,388 ✭✭✭
Using xray (or CT/MRI/PET/etc) would it be possible to "see" what is inside unopened packs of cards? I would think so but I'd like to hear if any one has tried it, or has heard of it or has even thought about it? I would think the modern ones with metal, foil, etc would make it more difficult (maybe impossible) but what about older ones?
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MRI and PET wouldn't be applicable, but CT is what people have been using... It's been discussed at length so you can find good material online discussing how it works as well as cases where it's been used.
metallic wrappers like foil etc. can present an issue, but the wavelength of x-ray is very short and metal is mostly nothing so you can send the waves right through it with relative ease unless the metal is dense, thick, or both - think Lead.
Fanatics needs to go the route of Upper Deck and sell cards on an ePack site. So now you got both direct from manufacturer buying cases/boxes and then the ePack type site, with immediate purchasing power direct from manufacturer. I mean, they have Fanatics Live but how many of those breakers can Fanatics really trust 100% of the time?
I took an MRI of several 1988 Score packs a couple of years ago looking for the Gregg Jeffries card.
You should patent that.
MRI - Uses a magnetic field to align protons in water molecules in tissue. Then it perturbs them with RF waves. Once perturbed, the RF field is turned off and the protons re-align to the field sensors in the MRI measure the time it take to return to alignment (technically they measure the energy released). This provides insight into the chemical nature of molecules in the body. I think that if anyone at the FDA knew how MRIs worked in the 80s they wouldn't have approved them. It's amazing science.
CT Scan - CT scanning might appear similar to a MRI, though it's normally a donut shape rather than a cylinder. It can also be a hand-held scanner. CT scans fire a pretty narrow band of x-rays through the body. The energy is measured on the other side to determine the density of tissue in between. As the emitter (and receiver along with it) is rotating you end up with enough detail to get fine slices of the tissue.
PET Scan - I'm not super familiar with the details, but this uses a radioactive tracer which can be measured with external sensors. Like you inject sugar into the blood stream and it will accumulate in an area with active cancer because of high metabolic function which is then measured by sensors.