New CIA Laser Detects EVERYTHING!

• Lan wrote on 2012-07-11 04:52
  [video=youtube;h_SHuKfC9Hc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_SHuKfC9Hc&feature=g-u-u[/video]

  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 164 feet (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.
  The technology is so incredibly effective that, in November 2011, its inventors were subcontracted by In-Q-Tel to work with the US Department of Homeland Security. In-Q-Tel is a company founded "in February 1999 by a group of private citizens at the request of the Director of the CIA and with the support of the U.S. Congress." According to In-Q-Tel, they are the bridge between the Agency and new technology companies.
  
  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.
  
  The machine is ten million times faster—and one million times more sensitive—than any currently available system. That means that it can be used systematically on everyone passing through airport security, not just suspect or randomly sampled people.
  
  Analyzing everything in real time
  
  But the machine can sniff out a lot more than just explosives, chemicals and bioweapons. The company that invented it, Genia Photonics, says that its laser scanner technology is able to "penetrate clothing and many other organic materials and offers spectroscopic information, especially for materials that impact safety such as explosives and pharmacological substances." [PDF]
  
  Formed in Montreal in 2009 by PhDs with specialties in lasers and fiber optics, Genia Photonics has 30 patents on this technology, claiming incredible biomedical and industrial applications—from identifying individual cancer cells in a real-time scan of a patient, to detecting trace amounts of harmful chemicals in sensitive manufacturing processes
  
  Meanwhile, In-Q-Tel states that "an important benefit of Genia Photonics' implementation as compared to existing solutions is that the entire synchronized laser system is comprised in a single, robust and alignment-free unit that may be easily transported for use in many environments… This compact and robust laser has the ability to rapidly sweep wavelengths in any pattern and sequence." [PDF]
  
  So not only can they scan everyone. They would be able to do it everywhere: the subway, a traffic light, sports events... everywhere.
  
  How does it work?
  
  The machine is a mobile, rack-mountable system. It fires a laser to provide molecular-level feedback at distances of up to 50 meters in just picoseconds. For all intents and purposes, that means instantly.
  
  The small, inconspicuous machine is attached to a computer running a program that will show the information in real time, from trace amounts of cocaine on your dollar bills to gunpowder residue on your shoes. 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.
  
  The technology is not new, it's just millions times faster and more convenient than ever before. Back in 2008, a team at George Washington University developed a similar laser spectrometer using a different process. It could sense drug metabolites in urine in less than a second, trace amounts of explosive residue on a dollar bill, and even certain chemical changes happening in a plant leaf.
  
  And the Russians also have a similar technology: announced last April, their "laser sensor can pick up on a single molecule in a million from up to 50 meters away."
  
  So if Genia Photonics' claims pan out, this will be an incredible leap forward in terms of speed, portability, and convenience. One with staggering implications.
  
  Observation without limits
  
  There has so far been no discussion about the personal rights and privacy issues involved. Which "molecular tags" will they be scanning for? Who determines them? What are the threshold levels of this scanning? If you unknowingly stepped on the butt of someone's joint and are carrying a sugar-sized grain of cannabis like that unfortunate traveler currently in jail in Dubai, will you be arrested?
  
  And, since it's extremely portable, will this technology extend beyone the airport or border crossings and into police cars, with officers looking for people on the street with increased levels of adrenaline in their system to detain in order to prevent potential violent outbursts? And will your car be scanned at stoplights for any trace amounts of suspicious substances? Would all this information be recorded anywhere?
  
  There are a lot of questions with no answer yet, but it's obvious that the potential level of personal invasion of this technology goes far beyond that of body scans, wiretaps, and GPS tracking.
  
  The end of privacy coming soon
  
  According to the undersecretary for science and technology of the Department of Homeland Security, this scanning technology will be ready within one to two years, which means you might start seeing them in airports as soon as 2013.
  
  In other words, these portable, incredibly precise molecular-level scanning devices will be cascading lasers across your body as you walk from the bathroom to the soda machine at the airport and instantly reporting and storing a detailed breakdown of your person, in search of certain "molecular tags".
  
  Going well beyond eavesdropping, it seems quite possible that U.S. government plans on recording molecular data on travelers without their consent, or even knowledge that it's possible—a scary thought. While the medical uses could revolutionize the way doctors diagnose illness, and any technology that could replace an aggressive pat-down is tempting, there's a potential dark side to this implementation, and we need to shine some light on it before it's implemented.

  
  
  http://gizmodo.com/5923980/the-secret-government-laser-that-instantly-knows-everything-about-you?comment=50824401
  
  No more getting molested.
• Meikeru wrote on 2012-07-11 04:58
  Awesome yet scary at the same time.
• Yoorah wrote on 2012-07-11 05:22
  If implemented responsibly, this will be great for us. :P
• Xemnas wrote on 2012-07-11 05:52
  suddenly people rush into hospitals with tumors everywhere, reasons completely unknown.
• RebeccaBlack wrote on 2012-07-11 06:46
  Would they stop fucking doing this shit? Are we really that paranoid that we need this? We need less "security" and privacy invasion, not more. What's wrong with these people that keeping body scans and going through the whole security system just isn't enough? How messed up are they and how can they possibly justify this or keep it legal? It's fine if it's just some privately owned thing in some place, because then it's optional, but to put it in streets and airports and everywhere else we have to go if we want to go outside and know they're storing this kind of information about us, without our consent or (in most cases) knowledge, is way beyond crossing the line. I can't even leave the country in disgust without having such information stored about me because I have to go through an airport or border checkpoint first.
  
  I really need to get out of here as soon as I can, as this country is getting real creepy real fast. And don't give me that "you have nothing to hide, don't you?" crap. I've never owned a gun or used drugs. I'm just a person who is tired of the terrible decisions that have been made and are continuing to be made.
• Kingofrunes wrote on 2012-07-11 11:29
  There honestly isn't many good places that I'd like to live in on this planet that are suitable and high standards except...
  
  A) Canada
  B) Britian
  C) Italy
  D) Spain
  
  All other countries are extremely anti-american, extremely subpar/low standards or have dangerous environments (Looking at you Australia. *shudders*)
  
  But that's off topic.
  
  On topic: This does pose quite the problem While the technology itself is great, the misuse that this will most likely result in will cause a public outrage and will probably make me even more of a recluse.
• Chiyuri wrote on 2012-07-11 14:26

  Quote from Kingofrunes;906189:

  There honestly isn't many good places that I'd like to live in on this planet that are suitable and high standards except...
  
  A) Canada
  B) Britian
  C) Italy
  D) Spain
  
  All other countries are extremely anti-american, extremely subpar/low standards or have dangerous environments (Looking at you Australia. *shudders*)
  
  But that's off topic.
  
  On topic: This does pose quite the problem While the technology itself is great, the misuse that this will most likely result in will cause a public outrage and will probably make me even more of a recluse.

  
  
  Actually, the French side of Canada (and also a lot of english people) are very anti-USA...
• Oizen wrote on 2012-07-11 15:25
  Kinda support. As long as this technology stays at airports, and isn't used for anything else. (But we know it wont)
  
  
  I just hope they dont give us all cancer.
• paladin wrote on 2012-07-12 02:27
  One thing id say better done slowly
• Maenad wrote on 2012-07-12 07:56

  Quote from RebeccaBlack;906090:

  Would they stop fucking doing this shit? Are we really that paranoid that we need this? We need less "security" and privacy invasion, not more. What's wrong with these people that keeping body scans and going through the whole security system just isn't enough? How messed up are they and how can they possibly justify this or keep it legal? It's fine if it's just some privately owned thing in some place, because then it's optional, but to put it in streets and airports and everywhere else we have to go if we want to go outside and know they're storing this kind of information about us, without our consent or (in most cases) knowledge, is way beyond crossing the line. I can't even leave the country in disgust without having such information stored about me because I have to go through an airport or border checkpoint first.
  
  I really need to get out of here as soon as I can, as this country is getting real creepy real fast. And don't give me that "you have nothing to hide, don't you?" crap. I've never owned a gun or used drugs. I'm just a person who is tired of the terrible decisions that have been made and are continuing to be made.

  
  
  How dare they make technology able to sense the chemicals in my body. How dare them use technology that gives them so much info on my life past what I eat!
• RebeccaBlack wrote on 2012-07-12 08:03

  Quote from Araria;907175:

  How dare they make technology able to sense the chemicals in my body. How dare them use technology that gives them so much info on my life past what I eat!

  
  Give me one good reason this is generally beneficial at all for anything relevant over what we already have. Go ahead, I'll wait.
• Compass wrote on 2012-07-12 08:30
  Oh my god, that thumbnail....
• Maenad wrote on 2012-07-12 08:37

  Quote from RebeccaBlack;907180:

  Give me one good reason this is generally beneficial at all for anything relevant over what we already have. Go ahead, I'll wait.

  
  
  Much less wait times at airports. The death of TSA horror stories. No more being molested. No more 'heightened security measures' because we will be able to provide the maximum amount of security with no physical invasion.
• RebeccaBlack wrote on 2012-07-12 09:02

  Quote from Araria;907193:

  Much less wait times at airports. The death of TSA horror stories. No more being molested. No more 'heightened security measures' because we will be able to provide the maximum amount of security with no physical invasion.

  
  I oppose both this and the TSA. Bringing up something worse and saying "at least it isn't as bad as that!" isn't a very strong argument in the first place and in fact it's something I'd disagree with, too. I'd much rather go through the TSA knowing far less detailed information is being stored than having information about me recorded by a scanner that goes down to the molecular level, and believe me, I'm very douchey about people who put their hands on me without my consent.
  
  Is it really worth speeding up the process? And if so, what about just not doing it in the first place? How about just having basic scanners and accepting that hey, maybe once in every several million flights, there might be one incident? Doesn't that seem a lot more reasonable to you? Think about what you're saying.
• Maenad wrote on 2012-07-12 09:19

  Quote from RebeccaBlack;907215:

  I oppose both this and the TSA. Bringing up something worse and saying "at least it isn't as bad as that!" isn't a very strong argument in the first place and in fact it's something I'd disagree with, too. I'd much rather go through the TSA knowing far less detailed information is being stored than having information about me recorded by a scanner that goes down to the molecular level, and believe me, I'm very douchey about people who put their hands on me without my consent.
  
  Is it really worth speeding up the process? And if so, what about just not doing it in the first place? How about just having basic scanners and accepting that hey, maybe once in every several million flights, there might be one incident? Doesn't that seem a lot more reasonable to you? Think about what you're saying.

  
  
  Outside of the food you eat, you pretty much have exactly the same molecules in your body as everyone else.
  
  
  Would you prefer we knew nothing about anyone so that 9/11 could happen all over again? Call me paranoid but with no security, shit happens.