Cathode tube
In one universe, cathode tubes, capable of projecting special rays, were kept in hospitals on Mars. One was mistakenly left running in the delivery room when Jane 6em35, the half-human half-Martian daughter of Jarl 6em35 and Jane Faro, was born; she was exposed to it by a careless nurse. This had no immediate effects but resulted in her developing nigh-magical abilities as she grew up, becoming the “Magician from Mars”. (COMIC: Magician From Mars…)
Behind the Scenes
In reality cathode ray tubes were very common, although not an everyday sight for most people in 1939. The major component of most 20th century televisions, CRTs projected a beam of electrons from the cathode to the phosphorescent internal coating at the other end of the tube; this beam was swept back and forth by magnets to cover a large area and beam intensity was modulated to create bright and dark areas on the screen.
Very few Earth people developed superpowers from sitting in front of televisions!
