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Highly Directional Terahertz Laser Demonstrated

Posted by kdawson on from the break-out-the-tinfoil-underware dept.

eldavojohn writes "A new paper published this week in the journal Nature Materials announces a successful demonstration of highly directional terahertz semiconductor lasers. You might not think it's a big deal that some Harvard and University of Leeds researchers (funded partially by the US Air Force) figured out how to better direct lasers; but this means the ability to see what's in someone's pockets and clothing, at a distance of possibly hundreds of meters, or farther. The big benefit is that they are lower in energy than X-Rays and are less invasive, since they cannot pass through water or metal. Coming soon to an airport near you or buzzing around on board a drone in civilian airspace?"

6 of 125 comments (clear)

  1. "Less invasive than X-rays" by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Um, no, I know when I'm being X-rayed. A remote sensing system that can see what I have in my pockets a mile away, without my knowledge, is highly invasive.

    Yes, yes, they mean "invasive" in the medical sense: the frequencies they're using don't penetrate inside the body. But it would be nice if they'd clarify the meaning without being so blase about it. "DHS will be able to scan anyone, anywhere, any time for anything -- what could possibly go wrong?"

    --
    The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
  2. Re:Oh God by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Wearing tinfoil underwear will be a detainable offense - you could be hiding something in there! Like your dignity, for instance.

  3. Re:so it does not work with sharks? by Delarth799 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Not yet, but those bastards keep making the technology smaller and smaller and more powerful! One day they will make it small enough to be mounted onto a shark, and at that point someone else will have cloned raptors. The sharks and raptors will grow up together and then the world will end, taken over by raptors riding sharks with laser beams, all because science couldn't stop to think about the consequences!

  4. Violence-minded people... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    "Strafing runs through heavy traffic could make for a very interesting drive..."

    U.S. society: Violence-minded people want to spend taxpayer money for endless war.

    1. Re:Violence-minded people... by Dunbal · · Score: 3, Insightful

      U.S. society: Violence-minded people want to spend taxpayer money for endless war.

            Oh no, this would be privately funded! :)

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  5. Re:No kidding. by Surt · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yeah, if you have to be a scanner, definitely be a scanner for the first class passenger line.

    --
    "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking