Ohio State is working on a simple new sensor that could one day put other detectors out to pasture.
Unlike X-ray machines or radar instruments, the sensor doesn’t have to generate a signal to detect objects it spots them based on how brightly they reflect the natural radiation that is all around us every day.
There is always a certain amount of radiation light, heat, and even microwaves in the environment. Every object the human body, a gun or knife, or an asphalt runway reflects this ambient radiation differently.
Paul Berger, professor of electrical and computer engineering and physics at Ohio State and head of the team that is developing the sensor, likened this reflection to the way glossy and satin-finish paints reflect light differently to the eye.
Once the sensor is further developed, it could be used to scan people or luggage without subjecting them to X-rays or other radiation. And if the sensor were embedded in an airplane nose, it might help pilots see a runway during bad weather.
(Big ups: Schneier. And yeah, that’s a screen grab from Total Recall)
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Just what we need, remote passive sensor technology, next I’d like phasers and transporters, please. Oh, and well, that whole warp drive thing, too.
This is great and all but will this system work better than the systems we have now? What we need is a light, easy to use system that works for most things most of the time. It would be great if this is the trick but I feel like someone says that they have the scanner of the future every other day.
how come every new sensor that gets developed always gets the mention of “it will help airplanes see the runway in bad weather”. you would think that with all the sensors that have been praised to have this capability, they wouldnt need any more.
This sounds like exactly the same concept that is supposed to detect stealth aircraft by using existing multi-spectrum emissions like TV signals. The ranges would be a lot shorter, but the computing power required for ground work would probably be a heck of a lot higher.