May 09, 2007

Da Invisible Code, An Addendum

currency detector using uv lightRegarding steganography, about which I discussed previously, I thought I could share with you how it is being used even today. If you use a fake currency detector (which employs an ultraviolet lamp) and illuminate a currency note, you will see shining fibers, not visible till now, glow with brilliance!

Proper care must be taken as UV light may lead to cataract and blindness, apart from various other ailments like skin cancer etc.. This simple fluorescence tutorial demonstrates how a photon of one frequency (UV spectrum), is emitted as a photon of another frequency (in the visible spectrum).

In diseases such as vitiligo and albinism (Particularly in white skinned individuals), tinea versicolor or other skin diseases, we can employ UV light to see them better. This is analogous to steganography, since the hidden lesion could now be visualized. UV light can cause cataract, photoaging of the skin, changes in the DNA which might even lead to cancer! UV light also has therapeutic roles, diagnostic applications, in physics related research and in electronics. EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) uses UV light to erase their memories.

Aren't we better off that we don't require UV light for our memories to be cleared?

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