Nanospiked bacteria are the brightest hard X-ray emitters

(Tata Institute of Fundamental Research) In a scientific breakthrough, researchers at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai and Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhi Nagar have fashioned bacteria to emit intense, hard X-ray radiation. Published in Optics Express this month, they show that irradiating a glass slide coated with nanoparticle doped bacteria, turns the cellular material into hot, dense plasma, making this a useful table top X-ray source with several potential application...