Slog
News & ArtsTuesday, July 10, 2012
Tech You Should Read Gizmodo's Report About the Government's Scary New Laser-Scanning Technology
Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, Jul 10, 2012 at 11:12 AM
Slog tipper NaFun says his friends have completely lost their shit over this Gizmodo story:
Within the next year or two, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will instantly know everything about your body, clothes, and luggage with a new laser-based molecular scanner fired from 50 meters away. From traces of drugs or gun powder on your clothes to what you had for breakfast to the adrenaline level in your body—agents will be able to get any information they want without even touching you.
And without you knowing it...Their plan is to install this molecular-level scanning in airports and border crossings all across the United States. The official, stated goal of this arrangement is to be able to quickly identify explosives, dangerous chemicals, or bioweapons at a distance.
You should go read the whole story. Apparently, the machine "fires a laser to provide molecular-level feedback at distances of up to 50 meters in just picoseconds" and can detect "trace amounts of cocaine on your dollar bills to gunpowder residue on your shoes." Gizmodo continues, "Forget trying to sneak a bottle of water past security—they will be able to tell what you had for breakfast in an instant while you're walking down the hallway." This has to be hyperbole...doesn't it? I mean, this is the same blog that compared Jeff Bezos to "a lion on the savannah," so it's not like accuracy has always been a goal of theirs. Jesus Christ, someone just tell me it's hyperbole so I can get some sleep tonight.
1
This sounds like bollocks to me. How are they detecting all this? Only in the CSI-verse is such wide spectrum, universal discrimination possible. Moreover, unless they are vaporizing you with the laser, getting a sample from inside of a body is challenging. This kind of paranoia keeps us from discussing the real civil liberties infringements that are actually happening in the real world. Nice job, Gizmodo.
2
Also, the last generation of you-can't-hide-anything from them scanners is foiled if you just put something next to your love handle, so I'm skeptical about this too.
3
Yes and it also reads your aura and detects your favorite song... Go have nice refreshing nap, Paul.
4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terahertz_r…
"Recently developed methods of THz time-domain spectroscopy (THz TDS) and THz tomography have been shown to be able to perform measurements on, and obtain images of, samples that are opaque in the visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum. The utility of THz-TDS is limited when the sample is very thin, or has a low absorbance, since it is very difficult to distinguish changes in the THz pulse caused by the sample from those caused by long-term fluctuations in the driving laser source or experiment. However, THz-TDS produces radiation that is both coherent and spectrally broad, so such images can contain far more information than a conventional image formed with a single-frequency source."
The terahertz band is no set of bollocks, sadly.
"Recently developed methods of THz time-domain spectroscopy (THz TDS) and THz tomography have been shown to be able to perform measurements on, and obtain images of, samples that are opaque in the visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum. The utility of THz-TDS is limited when the sample is very thin, or has a low absorbance, since it is very difficult to distinguish changes in the THz pulse caused by the sample from those caused by long-term fluctuations in the driving laser source or experiment. However, THz-TDS produces radiation that is both coherent and spectrally broad, so such images can contain far more information than a conventional image formed with a single-frequency source."
The terahertz band is no set of bollocks, sadly.
5
Whether or not they will program their scanner to flag eggs, hash browns and bacon, though, remains to be seen.
6
Well, hell, I already get pulled over for secondary screening because I have burnt gunpowder on my clothing, so this is no surprise to me.
7
I'm usually all about privacy from government intrusion, but for some reason this doesn't bother me at all. It just seems like a far more efficient way of doing what is already being done with most of the hassle removed. If you could just walk into an airport terminal with no security checkpoint and have a laser scan you instead, I'm willing to let the government know what I had for breakfast. What is the downside?
8
I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that while the core technology is exciting and probably real, there are likely to be huge engineering hurdles - like cost-effective manufacturing, and processing power - that will take decades to overcome before anything like this goes to market or gets installed in airports. I don't know that for sure, and this is definitely not my area of expertise, but that is almost always the case for these leap-forward technologies.
Honestly, though, if they could do it, I really wouldn't care. More accurate information means less harassment and groping and faster security lines. I'd rather have them instantly scan for the bomb I obviously don't have than stop me and pat me down and make me go through security three times because I forgot I had a quarter-full water bottle in my backpack.
Honestly, though, if they could do it, I really wouldn't care. More accurate information means less harassment and groping and faster security lines. I'd rather have them instantly scan for the bomb I obviously don't have than stop me and pat me down and make me go through security three times because I forgot I had a quarter-full water bottle in my backpack.
9
Nice marketing, but light travels less than 1/3 of a millimeter in a picosecond. The clock on a 1 GHz computer is 1 cycle / 1000 picoseconds.
Apparently the picosecond identifier is for the length of the pulses--picosecond bursts of laser which can then go up and down frequencies (but it takes microseconds to adjust per the data sheet). How long it takes to identify things at a distance isn't stated in the data sheet. It might be seconds or it might be minutes. It seems like there is a lot of data that needs to be gathered and that it would take some time to process.
Apparently, the machine "fires a laser to provide molecular-level feedback at distances of up to 50 meters in just picoseconds" and can detect "trace amounts of cocaine on your dollar bills to gunpowder residue on your shoes."
Nice marketing, but light travels less than 1/3 of a millimeter in a picosecond. The clock on a 1 GHz computer is 1 cycle / 1000 picoseconds.
Apparently the picosecond identifier is for the length of the pulses--picosecond bursts of laser which can then go up and down frequencies (but it takes microseconds to adjust per the data sheet). How long it takes to identify things at a distance isn't stated in the data sheet. It might be seconds or it might be minutes. It seems like there is a lot of data that needs to be gathered and that it would take some time to process.
10
@ 6, sounds like you need to dress better when you fly. Or dress down when you go shooting.
@ 7, the only thing that worries me is something like the ability to detect trace amounts of cocaine on dollar bills, which are probably numerous enough that we've probably all handled such a bill even if we've never snorted a line even once in our lives. Would such a thing mark you for extra scrutiny? If you pull the wrong TSA agent, it would.
These technologies are all only as good as the people who are in charge of using them, and TSA is definitely an agency that has problems with the quality of their personnel.
@ 7, the only thing that worries me is something like the ability to detect trace amounts of cocaine on dollar bills, which are probably numerous enough that we've probably all handled such a bill even if we've never snorted a line even once in our lives. Would such a thing mark you for extra scrutiny? If you pull the wrong TSA agent, it would.
These technologies are all only as good as the people who are in charge of using them, and TSA is definitely an agency that has problems with the quality of their personnel.
13
So its a fancy long range mass spec? I am much more annoyed at them getting a look at my luggage than whatever random chemicals I happen to have on me.
I know its fashionable to get all freaked out about the government, but we have more protections from the police and more protections for privacy than any point in history. The only real difference between now and the past is that we hear about abuses a lot more and tend to give more of a shit.
I know its fashionable to get all freaked out about the government, but we have more protections from the police and more protections for privacy than any point in history. The only real difference between now and the past is that we hear about abuses a lot more and tend to give more of a shit.
14
@7 Shit like this becomes a lot more common:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-…
And yes, I realize that this isn't as drastic in the US (yet), but the UAE will no doubt deploy this technology to scan EVERYONE for even a minute amount of drugs anywhere on their person. Don't plan on going anywhere near there- just in case you stepped on a speck of weed smaller than a grain of salt.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-…
And yes, I realize that this isn't as drastic in the US (yet), but the UAE will no doubt deploy this technology to scan EVERYONE for even a minute amount of drugs anywhere on their person. Don't plan on going anywhere near there- just in case you stepped on a speck of weed smaller than a grain of salt.
15
@10 - Rolling around in his discharged shells like Scrooge McDuck in his money vault is his right as a 'merkin citizen, Got'ammit!
17
@10, 14 - Now that you mention it, I was just reading an article about a police department in Michigan (maybe?) that was telling people (wrongly) that they had to pay bail in cash, then confiscated the bail money for having trace amounts of cocaine on it (like pretty much all cash has). Things would be so much easier if we could just trust the government to not be a bunch of evil fucks.
19
@8: Well, considering that the systems in place are widely known to be ineffective, it strikes me as pretty optimistic to assume that having an unobtrusive, low-visibility way to actually detect threats would mean getting rid of the obtrusive, high-visibility method for making a big show of looking for threats.
I would love to be able to just waltz into an airport and get on my plane without wasting 45-90 minutes of my life waiting and wondering how much of an interest a stranger is going to take in my testicles, but more intrusive technology isn't going to get us there.
I would love to be able to just waltz into an airport and get on my plane without wasting 45-90 minutes of my life waiting and wondering how much of an interest a stranger is going to take in my testicles, but more intrusive technology isn't going to get us there.
21
As someone who had a malignant melanoma carved off my hide at age 18, my first thought is, How bad is this new security method going to be for my health? The full-body scanners already seemed pretty bad, but I don't know if this is a step in the right direction or not.
22
I'm with @8. Just because the fundamentals are there, this doesn't mean it will be implemented with any success in the near future.
Trying to envision the infrastructure of the data management running the program that identifies molecular level amounts of every particle on earth is a bit mind blowing...add in undertrained TSA agents and you have a recipe for 100% failure.
Trying to envision the infrastructure of the data management running the program that identifies molecular level amounts of every particle on earth is a bit mind blowing...add in undertrained TSA agents and you have a recipe for 100% failure.
23
I'm still weirded out by the fact that I read a blog this morning, wondered about a specific phrase in the blog, and of course went to google and after entering just two words, Google gave me the whole long complex phrase. Nothing the government could do would freak me out any worse, but then I'm technodumb.
24
There are counter-measures for all of these, of course.
But have fun living in your dreamland Police State in the interim.
Remember: America (tm), Land of the Serfs and Home of the Rich Uberlords.
But have fun living in your dreamland Police State in the interim.
Remember: America (tm), Land of the Serfs and Home of the Rich Uberlords.
26
Yeah, I'm with 8 too. I have no doubt that the THz is being tested and build etc etc, when governments and companies start making declarative statements to the press like "Within Two Years this will be everywhere and the standard" etc. I get pretty suspicious about their real rate of return on results.
Lets not forget that if these statements were all true we'd already be, for example, flying a replacement space shuttle since 2008 with a plan to be on the moon in 2015....
Lets not forget that if these statements were all true we'd already be, for example, flying a replacement space shuttle since 2008 with a plan to be on the moon in 2015....
27
@9 is correct in what he's saying. That said, with today's computing power, is should not take more than a few seconds for a laser interferometer to scan the molecules surrounding your body in a closed tunnel. This would detect what you are exhaling and sublimating off, so I wouldn't worry too much about the balloons of heroin shoved up your ass (plugged with a suppository) or the cocaine-tainted money in your wallet (which we all are carrying around). Theoretically, it could be used to figure out what types of carbs and proteins you are burping out, but I think that the TSA would only be looking for positive hits indicating the presence of drugs and explosive residue.
Now, getting this into airports will be a logistical challenge that should take a good ten years. And, it would require even longer lines at security.
Now, getting this into airports will be a logistical challenge that should take a good ten years. And, it would require even longer lines at security.
28
Nothing the TSA has done has made me feel more safe than when they made 5280 go through secondary screening.
I'm less afraid of these in airports, and more afraid of what else the government will be doing with them.
I'm less afraid of these in airports, and more afraid of what else the government will be doing with them.
29
Also, just thinking about this a bit more....
How fun will it be when people eventually hack into said data management and change all substances deemed "dangerous" to "kittens" causing the entire airline industry to come to a complete halt.
It's one thing to be able to create a technical innovation and an entire different thing to keep it secure.
How fun will it be when people eventually hack into said data management and change all substances deemed "dangerous" to "kittens" causing the entire airline industry to come to a complete halt.
It's one thing to be able to create a technical innovation and an entire different thing to keep it secure.
30
Even if this did work as they claim then it is probably fairly easy to defeat.
Just spill some gunpowder in the elevators at the airport outside of the security area. Eventually they'll have to give up as more and more people are showing up "positive".
The same for drugs. You want to move a pound through customs? Then have someone dump an ounce in the hallway and hour before you walk through.
Just spill some gunpowder in the elevators at the airport outside of the security area. Eventually they'll have to give up as more and more people are showing up "positive".
The same for drugs. You want to move a pound through customs? Then have someone dump an ounce in the hallway and hour before you walk through.
31
Yes, I saw this on CSI: Miami so it must work. And they can sequence your DNA in two minutes and look you up in any US database in thirty seconds more.
32
Notwithstanding the breathless hyperbole and paranoia, this is generally good news, because it means airport security eventually can be done with remote sensing rather than groping, poking, and having a dog ram its nose into your crotch.
Wikipedia (which knows all with perfect accuracy) says:
"Terahertz radiation can penetrate fabrics and plastics, so it can be used in surveillance, such as security screening, to uncover concealed weapons on a person, remotely. This is of particular interest because many materials of interest have unique spectral "fingerprints" in the terahertz range. This offers the possibility to combine spectral identification with imaging. Passive detection of terahertz signatures avoid the bodily privacy concerns of other detection by being targeted to a very specific range of materials and objects."
Wikipedia (which knows all with perfect accuracy) says:
"Terahertz radiation can penetrate fabrics and plastics, so it can be used in surveillance, such as security screening, to uncover concealed weapons on a person, remotely. This is of particular interest because many materials of interest have unique spectral "fingerprints" in the terahertz range. This offers the possibility to combine spectral identification with imaging. Passive detection of terahertz signatures avoid the bodily privacy concerns of other detection by being targeted to a very specific range of materials and objects."
34
Regardless of whether the technology will even work the way Gizmodo imagines, firing high-energy lasers at people is verboten by a zillion laws and rules. Plus, it NOT being nondestructive, they have to at least vaporize a few of your skin cells to have anything to analyze, they definitely need at least a search warrant and maybe some kind of court order to permit seizing, vaporizing,and testing those cells. Or even if they're just testing your clothes, again those tests are not non-destructive. They need some measurable amount of your property to test, and they don't own any of it, you do. Well, at least at the moment.
35
Awesome I should be moving out of this hell hole soon enough. I'm really sorry for people who want that much information about me, this country totally isn't worth it.
36
The PR release this is based on doesn't make any of these claims. Keep in mind that Gizmodo is run by Gawker.
@11 has this right.
@11 has this right.
37
@22 The 100% failure rate is not a concern. All that matters is that billions more in TSA money is funneled to a company run by friends of a former government official in the name of security theater.
Think Michael Chertoff's buddies care if their machines actually ever detected a ceramic knife or a small bottle of incendiary material taped to someone's ankle? They're too busy toasting each other's "job-creator" status while sucking down cocktails bought with profits from your taxes. And fuck those poor losers who want "entitlements" (which they EARNED by working!)
Think Michael Chertoff's buddies care if their machines actually ever detected a ceramic knife or a small bottle of incendiary material taped to someone's ankle? They're too busy toasting each other's "job-creator" status while sucking down cocktails bought with profits from your taxes. And fuck those poor losers who want "entitlements" (which they EARNED by working!)
38
@28 I'm waiting for the portable porno scanners to show up on police cars, so they can scan everyone on the sidewalk for concealed weapons. Three years? Ten? You know Scalia and Thomas will sign off on it.
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