New Sensor Technology Looks at Molecular 'Fingerprint' 113
New sensor technology developed by engineers at the US Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory can now detect chemical, biological, nuclear, and explosive materials much more quickly and efficiently. From the article: "The millimeter/terahertz technology detects the energy levels of a molecule as it rotates. The frequency distribution of this energy provides a unique and reproducible spectral pattern - its 'fingerprint' - that identifies the material. The technology can also be used in its imaging modality - ranging from concealed weapons to medical applications such as tumor detection."
Mystery Robot Solved? (Score:3, Interesting)
Mystery Robot [nationalgeographic.com]
I highly doubt it... (Score:3, Informative)
Ordinarily, I wouldn't discount such robotics. Over the years, many great things have been done in robotics using COTS "junk" and such by such amateurs. Unfortunately, this whole thing seems to scream "scam" to me. Those transd
Re:What About ... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:What About ... (Score:2)
Re:What About ... (Score:2)
This sounds rather expensive. (Score:1)
Would this technology ever actually make it to the security checks at an airport, for instance? Does it offer a clear financial benefit over existing solutions?
Re:This sounds rather expensive. (Score:1)
HEY! Yoos needs to takes off yoos shooz, else I have to get rough!
Re:This sounds rather expensive. (Score:2)
Re:This sounds rather expensive. (Score:2, Informative)
Re:This sounds rather expensive. (Score:1)
Though it would work, somehow I think it won't make it as an airport security checking device.
Not new at all? (Score:3, Informative)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotational_spectrosc
Re:Not new at all? (Score:5, Informative)
Maybe you should read the article first. The breakthrough is the extreme degree of sensitivity, coupled with the fact that it's doing the analysis passively (versus targeting molecules with lasers/microwaves).
Re:Not new at all? (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't recall the sensitivity of the technique given in the other articles that are out there, but then there isn't any hard data on sensitivity in this "article" either; just a reference to getting within 10 ppm in one particular test. Since they don't give the concentration
Who watches the watcher? (Score:3, Insightful)
Thus, an ancient, esoteric, expensive, and minimally useful technology (rotational spectroscopy) is suddenly viable as a new, privacy-piercing technology.
Which brings me to my point: Are we going to sit back and watch our freedoms erode due to the lack of the basic privacy we've taken for granted for so long, or are we going to restructure our society so that we can p [wired.com]
Re:Not new at all? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Not new at all? (Score:2)
Re:Not new at all? (Score:1)
Re:Not new at all? (Score:2)
Then you shouldn't be confusing them with molecular vibrational spectroscopy. The article clearly states that this technology is looking at molecular rotational energy levels intermediate between infrared and microwave.
Re:Not new at all? (Score:2)
Re:Not new at all? (Score:2)
Re:Not new at all? (Score:2)
iran? (Score:2, Interesting)
"We can use this technology to detect chemical and biological agents and also to determine if a country is using its nuclear reactors to produce material for nuclear weapons or to track the direction of a chemical or radioactive plume to evacuate an area," explained Paul Raptis, section manager. Raptis is developing these sensors with Argonne engineers Sami Gopalsami, Sasan Bakhtiari and Hual-Te Chien.
It seems as if this is good news, the ability to decide if they really are WMD's or just a
Re:iran? (Score:2)
1) Thanks to oil, Iran is just about the most energy-rich country in the world. No other energy source will come close to the cost-effectiveness of simply sticking a spigot into the ground.
2) A country would almost have to be crazy to not want a nuclear arsenal. In a conflict, nukes easily make the difference between entering a negotiation among peers (of a sort), and getting inva
Re:iran? (Score:2)
A Nuke is easy to make. A delivery method is much harder. Japan could n
Re:iran? (Score:1)
They're called ships, and they float on the ocean, or if attacking a land locked country use an airplane.
Re:iran? (Score:2)
They're called ships, and they float on the ocean, or if attacking a land locked country use an airplane
Which is very limiting as you'd get at most 1 shot with this delivery method. Same for Air. If you didn't already have air dominance you are then gambling on these methods. Also their fairly slow methods. The coast gaurd / air traffic control and air defence would also run a significant chance of intercepting any traffic that isn't normal and a disguised ship will only wor
Re:iran? (Score:2)
In fact a ship or plane seems infinately more likely/logical...pretty damn tough to say that big missle hole in the ground is NOT yours or belongs to a rogue group!
Re:iran? (Score:2)
In fact a ship or plane seems infinately more likely/logical...pretty damn tough to say that big missle hole in the ground is NOT yours or belongs to a rogue group!
Since one MIRV ICBM can theoretically hit every major city on any given continent and since missle silos are fairly hard to detect and can be build virtually anywhere you can hit as often you can build them and you can build them in advance. As
Re:iran? (Score:1)
Re:iran? (Score:2)
Re:iran? (Score:2)
Re:iran? (Score:2)
That's not how it went down it WWII.
The US already had air supuriority. They could have done the same damage with convention weapons since they owned the skies.
This is all fine and good, (Score:2, Insightful)
Of course, I would feel pretty good seeing one at airports.
Ports (Score:2)
Radioactive plumes (Score:3, Interesting)
I was under the impression that properly functioning nuclear power plants shouldn't be releasing any kind of radiation into the air while operating, let alone enough radiocative plumes detectable from 9 km away. Then again, it is a Russian nuclear power plant, and Russians seem to have a much more relaxed attitude about that kind of thing.
Re:Radioactive plumes (Score:2)
I, for one, welcome our new three-headed Russion overlords.
Re:Radioactive plumes (Score:1)
Re:Radioactive plumes (Score:2)
Considering even coal plants do [google.com], I am not surprised.
Re:Radioactive plumes (Score:1)
Re:Radioactive plumes (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Radioactive plumes (Score:2)
It does produce neutrinos, which should count as radioactive particles, despite very low interaction rates. These are remotely detectable. For example, the Kamland [stanford.edu] experiment measures neutrinos from multiple reactors across Japan and neighboring countries.
Re:Radioactive plumes (Score:2)
Sniff, then Peek (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Sniff, then Peek (Score:2, Informative)
Uranium, in itself, does not count as a "controlled" substance. You can, legally, go online and buy anything from uranium metal to large quantities of ore samples MUCH "hotter" than you should ever spend much time near.
However, although you might poison yourself, you can't actually use those (in any realistic quantity) to build an explosive device.
Now, enriched uranium, plutonium, and very-hot fissile byprodu
Re:Sniff, then Peek (Score:1)
Re:Sniff, then Peek (Score:1)
Hey, man... don't hassle him over a simple typo! ;-)
(Yeah, I know you was respondin' to yerself, just bein' silly...)
Re:Sniff, then Peek (Score:2)
I just took it for granite
Re:Sniff, then Peek (Score:2)
Agree... (Score:1)
Re:Agree... (Score:2)
Especially from people making artifically broad and vague descriptions of the privacy invasion in order to justify them.
Re:Agree... (Score:1)
Re:Agree... (Score:2)
You describe the privacy invasion when people shine a special artificial light through a usually opaque barrier so vaguely that you're also describing the practice of looking at anything that's not just emitting its own light. To say the government should regulate seeing is obviously sarcastic, obviously saying that the government shouldn't regulate this THz imaging.
As for an analogy to listening devices, wh
Re:Agree... (Score:1)
Re:Agree... (Score:1)
Upon appeal, the court noted that, like light rays penetrating a window, (and police can raid a place based upon something in "plain sight") infrared rays, since they extend beyond the boundaries o
Re:Agree... (Score:2)
But THz imaging doesn't use reflected ambient light, or light generated by the material owned/controlled
Re:Awesome (Score:2)
Sensor? (Score:1, Funny)
Great (Score:1, Troll)
Thz triggers anyone? (Score:2)
Something more passive, or functional from greater distances, might be safer for the operator... Otherwise you will need an expensive robot.
Re:Thz triggers anyone? (Score:1)
That's a bit farther than 600 meters!
Why don't you trying to RTFA? (Score:2)
Identified chemicals related to defense applications, including nuclear weapons, from 600 meters away using passive sensing at the Nevada Test Site.
Passive, as in detecting THz radiation naturally emitted from a target, not projecting THz radiation at the taget you were refering to. That is, unless said enterprising terrorist builds a trigger that goes off whence it detects the THz radiation emitted by his/her bomb. We could only be so lucky.
heck, with this tech... (Score:1)
i can see lots of good this can do...
Star Treck - sounds like the tricorder device Spock used to use analizing the local environment when they land on some strange planet...
Re:heck, with this tech... (Score:1)
Re:heck, with this tech... (Score:1)
Looks similar to NIR (Score:1, Informative)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_infrared [wikipedia.org] and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemometrics [wikipedia.org].
Re:Looks similar to NIR (Score:2)
One issue with far-infrared spec is th
Thanks Star Trek (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Thanks Star Trek (Score:2)
It is in the same realm of that technology, but, it still cannot predict if the planet's women were hot enough to be 'Kirk-worthy.'
How long before... (Score:2)
Re:How long before... (Score:1)
Re:How long before... (Score:2)
>You're talking about 2 different things; that is, unless you "work" for the government.
nuclear plant detection? satellite install? (Score:2)
1) they have a picture 9 km away, from ABOVE, of a nuclear plant taken with the imager. So, is it hooked up to a satellite, or a very high-flying plane?
2) I have a method that can detect a running nuclear plant from miles away - it's called "look". If I "look" and steam is coming out of the cooling towers, then it's running!
Re:nuclear plant detection? satellite install? (Score:1)
I happen to live about 10 miles (~ 15 km) from a running nuclear plant, and I don't remember ever see steam coming from the cooling towers. There's been fog on the cooling lake from time to time, but not continuously. Now, this is one of the more modern plants (on line in 1987), so that may make a difference.
Re:nuclear plant detection? satellite install? (Score:2)
Re:nuclear plant detection? satellite install? (Score:1)
Don't forget the Maguire Seven (Score:3, Insightful)
The application of these technologies needs to be used carefully, especially they are far more sensitive than the technologies employed in the 70s. Perhaps good for screening, but we must careful in trusting them when it comes to the courts.
nice (Score:2)
Make it work and i'll buy you a Coke
Star Trek Scanners (Score:2)
passively scanning poison gas at 60 meters and getting it right, that is sci-fi.
Re:Star Trek Scanners (Score:2)
Thank god I'm an american (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Thank god I'm an american (Score:1)
Now on to the war on piracy.. (Score:1)
Crap joke. (Score:1, Funny)
And in unrelated news.. (Score:1)
Is it similar in principle to TRIMprob? (Score:1)
(TRIMprob stands for Tissue Resonance InterferoMeter Probe)
Sick of homeland defense (Score:2)
Yeah, I know they must hype it this way in the press releases to get their crumb from the DHS quadrillion-dollar table, but I'd really like to see some greater perspective every n
To put it succintly... (Score:2, Interesting)
OT - Does anybody have an idea? (Score:2)
FWIW, here is a link to this missing thread [slashdot.org]...
immigrants and national security (Score:1)
These are Indian, Iranian, and Chinese family names.
I hope that everyone recognizes that this contribution to the national security of the United States was probably made by recent immigrants.