Codebreaker

The TSA, scanning you one molecule at a time!

Marc Sanchez Jul 11, 2012

U.S. airports and borders are getting ready for the next phase of scanning security. Weird, spinning cylinders are on their way out, and LASER CATS are in! Actually no cats will be involved, but wouldn’t that make lasers scanning your every molecule from up to 164 feet away a little more palatable?  

The laser scanners, which will be rolled out within the next two years by the Department of Homeland Security, have the ability to to virtually frisk you without you ever knowing.

Gizmodo writes:
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.


The portable scanners are about the size of a CB radio and can detect other substances, besides potential explosives. For those of you reading this memo that also might look at the Harold and Kumar movie franchise as documentary filmmaking, let me spell it out for you: leave your weed at home. Is there an upshot to potentially being scanned everywhere all the time with lasers? Less congestion at the airport?

 

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