Since the attack on 9/11 new and different technologies have been developed to address new security threats. Some have worked well, others have not. Some have been used with little or no recognition at all, while others have been controversial since they were first used. Security technology will continue to be a growing field.
Airport Body Scanner
The Backscatter X-ray is an advanced imaging technology. It has been designed to detect the radiation that is reflected back from an object and displays an image. It can detect a wide variety of security threats, including concealed weapons, narcotics, dangerous tools, liquids and more. The Backscatter X-ray can be used successfully even if only one side of an object being scanned is accessible. When used during airport screening it usually creates a 2D image, since the scan takes images from both sides of the body. It was first developed in 1992 by a Dr. Steven W. Smith.
Scanning Cargo Containers for Radiation
Since 9/11 there has been a huge increase in the effort to guard against any type of radioactive material entering the United States. In order to do this the federal government has a number of different devices they use. The radiation detection device used by thousands of federal agents is the personal radiation detector. It’s a precision tool that emits an alarm when a spot of radiation is identified. They also use the Radiation Isotope Identifier, which is a hand-held device designed to detect radiation such as nuclear, medical and industrial isotopes. There are also large-scale Gamma-ray/X-ray imaging system utilized, which works by having radiation replicate images and display what’s inside everything from large or small vehicles to containers on merchant ships and more.
Biological Weapons Detection
In order to address the threat of biological weapons, a technology company in the United Kingdom came out with the Bio-Seeq Plus in 2007. It is a hand-held device that’s been designed to detect any level of biological warfare agents and other toxins that are either viral or bacterial. It uses a technology called, Linear After the Exponential Polymerase Chain Reaction (LATE-PCR). It has been designed to run up to six tests at the same time or independently. The Bio-Seeq Plus can produce results within 40 minutes.
Explosives Detection
There have been a variety of systems developed to detect explosives. When it comes to liquids the HI-Scan 6040a TiX is an X-ray system designed to tell the difference between safe liquids and ones that are a threat. The RespondeR BLS is a desktop system that utilizes Raman Spectroscopy technology and can accurately detect threat liquids. The HazMatID Ranger is a hand-held device that can detect over 32,000 different substances including everything from explosives to toxic chemicals, white powders and more. The Sabre 5000 has been designed to detect explosives but also has vapor detection ability.
These are just a few of the advancements in security technology. In the world of today there will always be individuals who wish to inflict massive damage and death upon people, and there will always be people designing technology to stop them.
Author’s bio – Ronald Young is a freelance author, specializing on security and related topics. He writes regularly for Homealarmmonitoring.org.