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Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

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Scientists Create “Quantum Glass” That Sees Inside the Body with Less Radiation & Works Underwater

X-rays are one of the most important tools in modern medicine and security. Doctors use them to look inside the human body and detect broken bones, infections, or tumors. Airport security systems use them to scan luggage without opening it. But despite their usefulness, traditional X-ray imaging has limitations—especially when it comes to radiation exposure, image clarity, and flexibility of the scanning equipment.

Now, scientists have developed a new type of X-ray imaging screen that could solve many of these problems at once. Reported in ACS Energy Letters, the new material improves how X-rays are converted into visible light, producing sharper images while requiring less radiation. Even more surprisingly, the technology works underwater and can be shaped into curved surfaces—something that could change the future of medical scanning, especially for procedures like mammography.

🔬 What Makes X-ray Imaging Work?

To understand this breakthrough, it helps to know how X-ray imaging normally works.

When X-rays pass through an object or the human body, they are absorbed differently depending on the density of tissues or materials. Bones absorb more X-rays, while soft tissues allow more to pass through. This creates a pattern.

However, X-rays themselves are invisible. So a special material is needed to “translate” them into visible light that a camera or sensor can capture. This is where a material called a scintillator comes in.

A scintillator absorbs X-rays and emits tiny flashes of visible light. These flashes form the image we see on a screen.

Osman Bakr, one of the lead researchers, explains that the better this conversion process is, the clearer the image becomes—and the less radiation is needed to produce it.

🧪 The Big Problem with Current Scintillators

Traditional scintillators have limitations:

  • They often require higher radiation doses to produce clear images

  • They can be rigid and fragile

  • They are not easily shaped into curved surfaces

  • Their performance drops in challenging environments like underwater conditions

This means patients sometimes receive more radiation than ideal, and imaging systems are less adaptable to different parts of the human body.

💡 The “Quantum Glass” Innovation

To overcome these challenges, the research team—including Osman Bakr, Mehmet Bayindir, and colleagues—developed a new type of glass-based scintillator.

Instead of using conventional materials, they engineered a special combination of:

  • Copper nanoclusters

  • Iodine

  • Organic ligands (molecules that help stabilize the structure)

These components were embedded into glass, creating what the researchers describe as a “quantum glass.”

This material sits in a unique middle state—between ordinary molecules and fully formed nanocrystals. This gives it both stability and high performance.

According to Mehmet Bayindir, this bottom-up design approach allows the material to combine the best features of both worlds: flexibility and strong imaging ability.

🖼️ Sharper Images with Less Radiation

One of the biggest achievements of this new glass is its efficiency.

Because it converts X-rays into visible light more effectively, it produces clearer images even when lower doses of radiation are used.

In experiments, the researchers used the material to capture detailed X-ray images of objects such as:

  • A memory card

  • A small insect (bug)

The images revealed extremely fine internal structures that are difficult to see using conventional systems.

This improvement is important because reducing radiation exposure is a major goal in medical imaging, especially for patients who require frequent scans.

🌊 X-ray Imaging That Works Underwater

One of the most surprising discoveries was that the new scintillator works even in water.

Normally, water interferes with X-ray imaging and reduces image clarity. But the new material was able to capture a clear scan of a fish tail submerged in water. The image quality was almost identical to one taken in air.

This opens the door to future applications in underwater research, marine biology, and even industrial inspections in wet environments.

🔄 Flexible, Moldable “Smart Glass”

Another major breakthrough is the material’s flexibility.

When heated to about 107°F (42°C), the glass becomes soft and almost rubber-like. This allows it to be molded into curved shapes.

This property is extremely important for medical imaging. Most X-ray machines today use flat panels, but the human body is not flat.

For example, in mammography (breast cancer screening), patients must press their breasts between rigid plates to get a clear image. This process can be uncomfortable and discourages some people from regular screening.

With curved scintillator screens, future X-ray machines could better match the shape of the human body. This could:

  • Reduce physical discomfort

  • Improve image accuracy

  • Make screenings faster and easier

Bashir Hasanov, the first author of the study, explains that this flexibility opens a new frontier in three-dimensional X-ray imaging using curved surfaces.

🏥 A Step Toward Safer Medical Scans

Because the new material is more efficient, it can produce high-quality images with less radiation exposure. This is especially important in medical diagnostics, where patients may need repeated scans over time.

Lower radiation exposure could lead to:

  • Safer cancer screening programs

  • More frequent early detection tests

  • Reduced long-term health risks from imaging

Researchers believe this could significantly improve how diseases like cancer are detected and monitored.

🌍 What This Means for the Future

The development of quantum glass scintillators could have wide-ranging effects beyond hospitals.

In the future, this technology could be used in:

  • Portable X-ray devices

  • Emergency medical kits

  • Security scanning systems

  • Industrial inspection tools

  • Underwater exploration equipment

Its ability to bend, adapt, and function in challenging environments makes it far more versatile than current rigid systems.

🧠 A New Direction for Imaging Science

What makes this discovery especially exciting is not just the performance improvement, but the design philosophy behind it.

Instead of improving existing materials slightly, the researchers created an entirely new class of material—engineered at the nanoscale to achieve a specific function.

As Bakr notes, the efficiency of this glass could eventually lead to safer, more comfortable, and more accessible imaging systems for patients around the world.

🚀 Conclusion

This breakthrough in X-ray technology represents a major step forward in medical imaging. By developing a flexible, highly efficient “quantum glass” scintillator, scientists have created a system that produces clearer images with less radiation, works even underwater, and can be shaped to fit the human body.

If further developed and commercialized, this innovation could transform how we diagnose diseases, making medical scans safer, more accurate, and far more comfortable for patients.

In the long run, this could mean earlier detection of serious illnesses, better treatment outcomes, and a new generation of intelligent imaging systems designed around the human body—not the other way around.

Reference: Bashir E. Hasanov et al., "Nanocluster Glass Scintillators Enabling Sub-3-Micrometer Resolution and 3D Conformal X-ray Imaging", ACS Energy Lett. 2026. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.6c00958

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