Monday, September 19, 2011

Laser helps detect roadside bombs

A laser beam that makes molecules vibrate could help detect improvised explosive devises, say scientists.

Every molecule vibrates with a unique frequency - so the laser could "sense" bombs while scanning the ground from a safe distance.

The Michigan State University team's work is another attempt to curb the number of deaths from roadside bombs in places such as Afghanistan.

The research appears in the journal Applied Physical Letters.

An improvised explosive device is a homemade bomb and more than half the deaths of coalition soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan have been as a result of IEDs.

The lead developer of the laser sensor, Dr Marcos Dantus said detecting IEDs has always been a challenge because of the chemical compounds present in the environment that mask the bomb's molecules.

"Having molecular structure sensitivity is critical for identifying explosives and avoiding unnecessary evacuation of buildings and closing roads due to false alarms," he said.

The invention uses a laser beam that combines short pulses that "kick" the molecules to make them vibrate with longer pulses.

"The laser and the method we've developed were originally intended for microscopes, but we were able to adapt and broaden its use to demonstrate its effectiveness for standoff detection of explosives," said Dr Dantus.

The researcher said he was not able to describe the technology behind the invention in great detail because of the project's sensitive nature.

"I cannot give you more specific information regarding its implementation," he told BBC News.

"All we are saying is that it could detect explosives from a standoff distance."

Robot dog's nose

Many different devices and techniques have been developed to help safely detect roadside bombs.

In mid-2010, UK scientists from University of St Andrews developed laser technology able to sense hidden explosives by "pumping" a type of plastic called polyfluorene with photons from another light source.

They found the laser reacted with vapours from explosives such as TNT.

The lead scientist of that study, Dr Graham Turnbull, told the BBC that one of the ways to use this type of laser would be to have it on a robotic, perhaps remotely controlled, vehicle that would be able to "sniff around" in a mine field, looking for vapour clouds.

"On a dusty road in Afghanistan there are relatively few things that might give you a false positive and it certainly could have potential in that area," said Dr Turnbull.

"Essentially it's making an artificial nose for a robot dog."



Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement | WordPress Tutorials

Facebook and Twitter get closer

Facebook members will soon be able to pipe their profile directly to a connected Twitter account.

The social networking giant said it was working on the feature in a document sent to developers about upcoming changes.

Before now linking to Twitter was only possible from Facebook pages which are meant for bands, public figures and businesses.

Facebook said linking was coming "soon" but gave no specific date.

The mention of the forthcoming connection to Twitter came as Facebook unveiled its "subscription" system which works in a similar fashion to Twitter's "follower" feature.

Those who subscribe to a Facebook page, and eventually a profile, will automatically be informed when its owner publishes what they flag as a public update.

The feature changes the dynamic of Facebook which before now has been about sharing updates with those a user deems to be their "friends". By subscribing, Facebook members will be able to see the public activities of almost any of its 600 million users.

Many suspect the feature that links profiles to Twitter will be formally unveiled at Facebook's F8 developers conference which starts on 22 September.

The move is widely seen as a response to a change made by Twitter. In early September, Twitter made it easier to send Tweets directly to a Facebook account.

Prior to the changes, many Twitter and Facebook users relied on stand alone applications or add-ons to link the two.

Both the changes are also seen as responses to the success of the Google + social network which makes it easier to send updates to other places.



Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement | WordPress Tutorials