This article from 2016 highlights the terahertz spectrometer, which is a technology that can read books without opening them.
This new machine can read book pages without cracking the cover | PBS NewsHour
The machine uses beams of radiation to creep in between pages and scan individual letters. This new tool wasn’t made to create disdain among classic readers or for those too lazy to lift a cover. Rather it may unlock the secrets of old books or ancient texts too fragile to be disturbed by human touch.
Scanning an object layer by layer and deriving meaning from the images? Cool, nifty, amazing, a breakthrough for archaeologists and antiquarians everywhere!
Also, remind me again why mammograms still require what is, in effect, a highly sophisticated panini press?*
And yes, it is exactly as uncomfortable as it sounds.
* I know, I know, living tissue is not the same thing as parchment or an Italian sandwich. Still, it’s hard not to think that the gap between the current and ideal mammogram experience represents an untapped opportunity for innovation. Ladies, can I get an amen?
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J.R. Johnson 
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