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Sensor Networks for NBC Threats
Nerdsville writes "Planet Analog have an article describing research into a nationwide sensor network that could provide a real-time early-warning system for chemical, biological and nuclear threats across the US.
Researchers plan to use microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and nanotechnology to create accurate biological and chemical sensors. Linked in an Internet-like peer-to-peer network spanning wireless, wired and satellite links."
Like that godawful Will and Grace show?
is that Friends will continue for many, many years.
Sehr geehrter Toilettenbenutzer!
Nukes give out a big flash of light which will tell you when they've hit. You should then remember to duck and cover. The mushroom cloud should help to warn those outside the range of the flash.
Warning: Opinions known to be heavily biased.
a real-time early-warning system for chemical, biological and nuclear threats
Next time they should order the words the same as in the acronym (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) so those of us who are not terrorism experts can stop wondering why the peacock network poses such a threat to our well being.
Terrorist will use use something else that governments aren't looking for. For example the US was ready for an invasion by planes missiles etc... but on Sept. 11, the terrorists used something nobody expected.
I think the different governments should spend more money on trying to understand the causes of terrorism, and try to eliminate it at the source (which one could argue they already do with the war on terrorism).
You'll notice the article only mentions airborne threat... What about water ?
For some reason, I read the title as Censor NBC Networks for Threat
Like you wanted us to censor the NBC TV network and then blackmail them or something.
It's... News for Nerds! Stuff that Matters! La-de-da-de-da-DE-da!
I can see it now: thousands of people fleeing the subway when a sensor trips because someone lit up a cigarette underneath one. Now every ignores it when a real NBC attack comes around, just like the tsunami early warning systems in the pacific.
This IS a gov't project, and this one is only getting funding because of people who watch the news too much and are becoming exactly what terrorists want: afraid.
Also, politicians are aching to to jump on the "spend money on homeland security" bandwagon. 2004 is just around the corner . .
-n
I enlisted in the U.S. Army just before the 1st Gulf War and because of that had to go through more NBC training than most recruits. We learned how to donn our protective gear, decontaminate ourselves (including how to decontaminate your buddie's ass after he uses the latrine), and give ourselves injections against neurotoxins. But, privately, the Sergeants doing the training would tell you that NBC weapons are like lightning. You're either hit or you're not, and there's not a whole helluva lot you can do if you are, except kiss your ass goodbye. If you're going into an area that's been affected, then your MOPP gear does some good. Otherwise, they said, it's mostly there to give you courage and keep you from sneaking out the back way. And that's what this news is about. If you hear the sirens go off, you're okay. If you don't hear the sirens go off, you're either okay, or you're dead. So the information doesn't do you much good. It doesn't do the civil authorities a lot of good either. When the dead people start piling up and nobody can get anybody to answer a phone in NYC, it will eventually dawn on people what happened. Like so much post-911 action, this is like a doctor giving you a placebo to hide the fact that he either doesn't have a clue what's wrong or that he knows but can't fix it and doesn't want to fess up. Or maybe he's worried that you'll think the cure is worse than the disease.
The worst and third worst terrorist attacks in recent American history were carried out by radical Islamic fundamentalists, yes. The second and fourth worst ... well, I don't think Timothy McVeigh or Eric Rudolph had spent much time listening to the imams. Pretty much all fundamentalism is bad, mmmkay?
The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
I work at the Labs, right down the hall from these guys. I play soccer with a man named Panos Datskos. He recently finished building a cantilever based electronic nose that has the potential to detect a single molecule. Datskos is working on a "universal" sensor that shares many of the same processes of a gas chromatograph to identify any substance. As described in the article, it uses very basic technology (a CD laser). It's also very compact, the size and shape of a discman. The coolest thing about the technology is that it functions in the ambient environment. It does not, like most laboratory equipment, require a vacuum, extreme temperatures, or special shock absorbance to reduce vibration. This is the kind of device that they'll be deploying to airports, I believe.
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