this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2023
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South African diamond miner being x-rayed at the end of his shift to prevent theft, 1954 (lemmy.world)
submitted 10 months ago by PugJesus@lemmy.world to c/historyporn@lemmy.world
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[–] TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz 40 points 10 months ago (4 children)

I do wonder whether this was actually an effective way to look for them. Even with modern high resolution x-ray imaging it may be difficult to see the contrast between soft tissues and diamonds since they're both primarily carbon

bones show up well since they're high in calcium, which has a much higher atomic number. Same with gold.

[–] Maalus@lemmy.world 50 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I mean if everyone tells you "we have a machine that can see through skin and can check if you have hidden diamonds" that would probably stop any attempts at theft that way. Even if it doesn't actually see them. Also, diamonds out of the mine would be uncut, and probably easier to see.

[–] TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz 11 points 10 months ago (1 children)

same thing with the TSA

[–] w2tpmf@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago

Correct. Both are "security theater".

[–] Wrench@lemmy.world 31 points 10 months ago

That's after the diamond has been cut. Raw diamond would be mostly encased in rock which would display differently

[–] mapleseedfall@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Wow I didn't see the ring at first and I thought it was a circle to point out things

[–] Tangent5280@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

me too. I spent a stupid amount of time zooming in to see contrast.

[–] ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.de -4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

You do realize the mine has lots of diamonds they could test with?

[–] TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Sure man. You go stand in the beam with a sack of diamonds up your butt and we'll watch

[–] ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.de 0 points 10 months ago

That's not my point. People running the mine could easily check if raw diamonds interact with X-rays.