TERRORISTS who try to infiltrate American embassies may soon be up against a 3D scanner that sees through their clothes and can spot any concealed weapons, even if they are not made of metal. The scanners may also replace strip-searches in prisons and could eventually be used in airports to catch drug smugglers.
Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, who developed the scanner, originally hoped that it could replace X-ray scanners and metal detectors at airports. But while the millimetre-band waves it uses have none of the health risks associated with ionising radiation such as X-rays, the…
