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Hair-Raising Technique Detects Drugs, Explosives On Human Body

sciencehabit writes Scientists have found a way to combine Van de Graaff generators with a common laboratory instrument to detect drugs, explosives, and other illicit materials on the human body. In the laboratory, scientists had a volunteer touch a Van de Graaff generator for 2 seconds to charge his body to 400,000 volts. This ionized compounds on the surface of his body. The person then pointed their charged finger toward the inlet of a mass spectrometer, and ions from their body entered the machine. In various tests, the machine correctly identified explosives, flammable solvents, cocaine, and acetaminophen on the skin.

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  1. Re:So what happens... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    guess to why they aren't more popular in weatern nations.

    Yeah, I have a guess. There aren't any terrorists in western nations. The western nations are terrorist states terrorizing innocent travelers for political gain.