Soon deployed, we must hope, is a remote sniffer that can identify a hidden explosive up to 65 feet away.
More than that, this new gizmo will pick out contraband such as anthrax, biochemicals or drugs. Pollutants in the air may someday be identified from an armchair.
Solids have a unique wave fingerprint. By sending two lasers toward a point, the detector instantly generates and measures the terahertz spectrum to compare with a library of material vibrations; the world’s first remote high resolution spectroscope.
The keywords R·e·m·o·t·e S·e·n·s·i·n·g attract comment trolls ranting about privacy or fascist takeover. Yes, intrusive power is a dumb way to build a workable society, but there are severe threats we must address.
If this unit shrinks, someday our cellphones or a ring on our finger might detect mercury in fish or melamine in milk. That’s handy.