December 5, 2014
1 min read
Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAmWhat’s the Weirdest Thing You’ve Brought through Airport Security?
Gold medallions? Unfortunately martial-looking instruments of science? Send us your stories and photos
By Seth Fletcher
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
Not long after the winners of this year’s Nobel Prizes were announced, my colleague Clara Moskowitz wrote about astrophysicist Brian Schmidt’s experience carrying his own Nobel—a half-pound gold medallion—through airport security. Schmidt’s story might be impossible to top, but we would like you to try.
So tell us, what is the weirdest thing you have ever taken through airport security? Strange instruments of science or samples from the field earn bonus points. Send us photos and descriptions, and we’ll publish the best responses on ScientificAmerican.com in time for the holiday travel season. Last day for submissions is Wednesday, December 10.
Thank you for participating. Submissions are closed. View the results.
Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism
Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community.
When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.
Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber