Neither do I. I think x-ray machines are far to weak. But keep in mind that Flash is some sort of erasable permanent memory. All of those memories can be erased by radiation. In fact this is exactly how EEPROM works. High doses of radiation defenitely can affect memory, just not the X-Ray machines at the airport.
Well, the question is not completely out of the blue. Come to think of it, electronic equipment does get affected a lot. I just read about the 20 year anniversary of Tchernobyl and how all electronic equipment failed due to radiation, so they had to send in humans.
Microchips (and Compact Flash is nothing else) for Spacecrafts have to be built with special radiation hardened processes. Usually those have larger feature sizes. With the current progress in technology and ever shrinking feature sizes, memory becomes cheaper and more dense. This will also make it somewhat more susceptible to radiation.
I haven't heard of data loss yet, but I would not completely rule out the possibility. Defenitely you are increasing the chances of flipping a bit. The chances are always there (tunneling). This is why the flash can not retain data indefinite. It all comes down to probability.
I believe that they also put error correction bits on the rams, but I could be wrong here. I am not a Flash Expert.
So, could this affect pictures on a digital camera too? I just posted the question about film, now I'm thinking my digital camera might not be a safe alternative either.
I would say no. I haven't heard of any occurance. With todays technology you should be fine, with tomorrows technology (smaller feature size, lower voltage, lower power) there may be some problems arising. But believe me, that card manufacturer will take all steps necessary to avoid this, as this could ruin them.
I would say that you can safely go and buy just about any digital memory and be fairly certain that nothing will happen.
I haven't heard of laptops loosing data either. Here data is stored magnetically, while in Flash its stored as a charge. I always back up my digital files on one of my portable image tanks anyways, since I shoot several GB worth of data each time. I am not worried yet.
There is no problem about losing your data from any memory card or even from the hard disc of the laptop. X-rays doesn't have high magnetic field which will not affect any data storage hardwares.
Yes and no. X-Rays have a certain energy, and just as a Photon can knock an Electron loose (Your Digital Camera uses exactly this effect to capture images), X-Rays can knock Electrons loose.
Sine the floating gates of memories become smaller and smaller and the oxide thickness reduces, they store less electrons that will find it easier to tunnel through the thinner oxide. So data retention will not be as good. Add to this some energy (X-ray) and you are further inceasing probablities for data loss.
Wow, I learn new things in here and not only about travelling tips. Thanks for that information. So what is the best thing to do so to avoid data loss. Are there any protective bags that will protect the electonic items from outside radiations that could damage your delicate property?
I wouldn't worry about it. At this moment there shouldn't be any problem due to the low power and the short time the X-Rays will penetrate the memory. I would be more worried about my health.
EEPROM are erased by means of UV-Rays. Although they are much more powerful, it still takes a while to erase them. X-Rays should be pretty much o.k. until the chips become much more highly integrated.
One thing you could do is to back your pictures up to a hard drive. I am using two different mobile hard drives with card slots (called image tanks), but for different reasons.
I know this is off the subject a bit but I have heard of mobil phones effecting your memory stick of your digital camera. A friend of mine had just taken pictures and put her phone in her bag next to her camera and all the photos where effected. May not have been because of the phone but still interesting.
I know this is off the subject a bit but I have heard of mobil phones effecting your memory stick of your digital camera. A friend of mine had just taken pictures and put her phone in her bag next to her camera and all the photos where effected. May not have been because of the phone but still interesting.
Very unlikely. I would rather think that your friend somehow deleted her photos by accident, was too embarrassed and blamed it on the memory stick. Seriously, I don't think thats possible.
My Phone (T-Mobile SDA) even has a mini SD card of 2GB inside where I can store MP3, pictures and videos. Never had any trouble with it and this card is ALWAYS subjected to the GSM frequencies of T-Mobile :-).
I will stick to my original claim, that this kind of radiation (low energy) can not affect your memory cards. High energy particles (like cosmic radiation in space) are a different story.
There is a small but finite possibility that all the subatomic particles in my shirt button will go jumping off to another universe or dimension or whatever, all at the same exact moment, and my shirt button will disappear, but I'm not worried about it.
You can only be so cautious about these things. Traveling with electronic data is less cumbersome and probably more reliable than film. I used to have those lead-lined bags, and I could take more shots in a week than the bags would hold.
The real risk is in the size of all this stuff. I've already left one thumb drive behind. The next one is going on the world's largest and most vibrantly colored key ring.
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I had never heard any case of electronic devices losing memory after going through the scanning. I don't think the memory would be effected.
Neither do I. I think x-ray machines are far to weak. But keep in mind that Flash is some sort of erasable permanent memory. All of those memories can be erased by radiation. In fact this is exactly how EEPROM works. High doses of radiation defenitely can affect memory, just not the X-Ray machines at the airport.
Andre Check out my Photos
I would be more worried about the data on the harddrive of my laptop if that were true.
Well, the question is not completely out of the blue. Come to think of it, electronic equipment does get affected a lot. I just read about the 20 year anniversary of Tchernobyl and how all electronic equipment failed due to radiation, so they had to send in humans.
Microchips (and Compact Flash is nothing else) for Spacecrafts have to be built with special radiation hardened processes. Usually those have larger feature sizes. With the current progress in technology and ever shrinking feature sizes, memory becomes cheaper and more dense. This will also make it somewhat more susceptible to radiation.
I haven't heard of data loss yet, but I would not completely rule out the possibility. Defenitely you are increasing the chances of flipping a bit. The chances are always there (tunneling). This is why the flash can not retain data indefinite. It all comes down to probability.
I believe that they also put error correction bits on the rams, but I could be wrong here. I am not a Flash Expert.
Andre Check out my Photos
So, could this affect pictures on a digital camera too? I just posted the question about film, now I'm thinking my digital camera might not be a safe alternative either.
I would say no. I haven't heard of any occurance. With todays technology you should be fine, with tomorrows technology (smaller feature size, lower voltage, lower power) there may be some problems arising. But believe me, that card manufacturer will take all steps necessary to avoid this, as this could ruin them.
I would say that you can safely go and buy just about any digital memory and be fairly certain that nothing will happen.
I haven't heard of laptops loosing data either. Here data is stored magnetically, while in Flash its stored as a charge. I always back up my digital files on one of my portable image tanks anyways, since I shoot several GB worth of data each time. I am not worried yet.
Andre
Check out my Photos
There is no problem about losing your data from any memory card or even from the hard disc of the laptop. X-rays doesn't have high magnetic field which will not affect any data storage hardwares.
Yes and no. X-Rays have a certain energy, and just as a Photon can knock an Electron loose (Your Digital Camera uses exactly this effect to capture images), X-Rays can knock Electrons loose.
Sine the floating gates of memories become smaller and smaller and the oxide thickness reduces, they store less electrons that will find it easier to tunnel through the thinner oxide. So data retention will not be as good. Add to this some energy (X-ray) and you are further inceasing probablities for data loss.
But as I mentioned, we are not there yet.
Andre
Check out my Photos
Wow, I learn new things in here and not only about travelling tips. Thanks for that information. So what is the best thing to do so to avoid data loss. Are there any protective bags that will protect the electonic items from outside radiations that could damage your delicate property?
I wouldn't worry about it. At this moment there shouldn't be any problem due to the low power and the short time the X-Rays will penetrate the memory. I would be more worried about my health.
EEPROM are erased by means of UV-Rays. Although they are much more powerful, it still takes a while to erase them. X-Rays should be pretty much o.k. until the chips become much more highly integrated.
One thing you could do is to back your pictures up to a hard drive. I am using two different mobile hard drives with card slots (called image tanks), but for different reasons.
This is how they look like.
Andre
Check out my Photos
I know this is off the subject a bit but I have heard of mobil phones effecting your memory stick of your digital camera. A friend of mine had just taken pictures and put her phone in her bag next to her camera and all the photos where effected. May not have been because of the phone but still interesting.
I have never had any trouble with any memory cards when going threw the scanner. So I don't think you will have a problem.
Very unlikely. I would rather think that your friend somehow deleted her photos by accident, was too embarrassed and blamed it on the memory stick. Seriously, I don't think thats possible.
My Phone (T-Mobile SDA) even has a mini SD card of 2GB inside where I can store MP3, pictures and videos. Never had any trouble with it and this card is ALWAYS subjected to the GSM frequencies of T-Mobile :-).
I will stick to my original claim, that this kind of radiation (low energy) can not affect your memory cards. High energy particles (like cosmic radiation in space) are a different story.
Andre
Gadget Reviews
There is a small but finite possibility that all the subatomic particles in my shirt button will go jumping off to another universe or dimension or whatever, all at the same exact moment, and my shirt button will disappear, but I'm not worried about it.
You can only be so cautious about these things. Traveling with electronic data is less cumbersome and probably more reliable than film. I used to have those lead-lined bags, and I could take more shots in a week than the bags would hold.
The real risk is in the size of all this stuff. I've already left one thumb drive behind. The next one is going on the world's largest and most vibrantly colored key ring.