Mohi-Al-Deen Technologies

Dear brothers and sisters,               February 21, 2010;

 

Assalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmathullahi Wa Bharakhathuhu.

 

May Allah Subhana Wa Taala reward brother Shahid for sending the mail and the MasjidNabwi group for forwarding the mail on whole body scanners getting introduced in airports.

 

Inshah Allah in what follows we hope to show that these whole body scanners are useless in stopping future suicide bombers. There is a technology, more or less already developed, that could indeed stop the future suicide bombers without forcing the innocent passengers to any indignity whatsoever.

 

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"With respect to a silicone implant, internally, some things such as PETN [pentaerythritol tetranitrate] could be placed in that, in something small -- it's only five ounces -- is plausible to be placed in a female's breast, and it could be ignited or activated and absolutely could cause a lethal explosion," said Linder.

 

Published reports say that British spies learned of the new threat when they detected increased chatter on Arabic Web sites.

 

Security experts say the surgically implanted explosives would go undetected by full-body scanners at airports.

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From the above it is clear that the terrorists are one step ahead of the authorities. Let us not forget that for a suicide bomber whether the explosive is attached outside his/ her body or inside her/ his body is of no consequence. The full body scanners because they expose the body parts that must be hidden, use of the full body scanners would force the Muslims and others concerned about their privacy to avoid air travel completely. In addition to the inconvenience caused to the community, the loss in revenue to the airlines also makes it imperative that we find a better method of thwarting terrorists, better than the useless whole body scanners.

 

A solution is given in the same article. We quote:

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According to Australian security experts, the best way to detect these new kinds of implanted explosives is with a very old-fashioned but highly effective detection method: the nose of a highly trained bomb-sniffing dog.

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Could we have one dog every airport? No need for whole body scanners. A dog that could sniff an explosive inside a body would of course detect any explosive under the clothing. However we are told that there are some difficulties in employing dogs to catch the suicide bombers.

 

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The problem with dogs is that they tire quickly, especially in harsh, cold conditions; they require constant training, intensive and costly care by a handler; and they are prone to sickness which interferes with their sensor abilities.

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The above comment was in relation to locating landmines in the battlefields. Inside an airport the climate is controlled and is generally healthy. Thus we could consider using dogs to spot the suicide bombers as they try to board a flight. Quoting from the above Google Books search we have:

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Kosta Tsipis believes that the most promising and advanced research in the "electronic nose" field is that of Nathan S. Lewis of the California Institute of Technology, whose research is part of a $6 million multi-disciplinary university effort on landmine research, funded by the military.

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Before we consider the progress made by Prof. Nathan's group, we quote another research on "electronic nose."

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PORTLAND, Ore. — Anecdotal evidence that dogs can detect cancer by smell inspired researchers to combine clever chemistry with optical detectors to craft an electronic nose that they claim can not only screen for any kind of cancer, but also determine whether it is aggressive.

 

...To automate the alleged canine ability and imbue it with the desired pinpoint accuracy, Rotello and Jerry worked with Georgia Tech professor Uwe Bunz to craft gold nanoparticle-based materials. Like the red, green and blue pixels that mix to represent any color, the different kinds of nanoparticles can mix to cover the whole spectrum of cancer cells, the researchers found. The "RGB-like" fluorescent nanoparticles are mixed with blood or tissue samples, where they bind to suspicious cells and, depending on the combination of particles that light up, indicate whether the cells are metastatic (capable of spreading beyond the initial tumor site).

 

"Today there are blood tests for specific cancerous antigens, such as those indicative of prostate cancer, but that test does not differentiate between cancer that is aggressive and should be removed [and tumors that are] nonaggressive and better off left alone," said Rotello. "Ours is the first test that can detect any kind of cancer and how dangerous it is."

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A bit more research could make the above approach detect the suicide bombers. But we could not be drawing blood from every air passenger. However it could be considered for subsequent evidence gathering from a suspected suicide bomber. We believe the research by Prof. Nathan's group could be put to use immediately.

 

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the Caltech system, which already has distinguished methanol from ethanol from isopropanol, benzene from toluene, acetone from ethyl acetate, R- from S- enantiomers (through incorporation of polymers having chiral functional groups along their backbone), light from heavy water, 51%/49% mixtures of two analytes from 50%/50% mixtures of the same analytes, beer from wine from hard liquor, dead fish from live fish, rose oil from garlic, etc., as well quantifying the composition of binary vapor mixtures, with no active control over humidity or temperature of the ambient or of the sensors, and with demonstrated sensitivities in the sub-ppm range on a single (unoptimized) sensor element (Figure 6). In the near future the system should demonstrate much improved sensitivities on sensor arrays as the coherence of the target analyte signature on the array response is incorporated into data processing algorithms.

 

...Additional advantages are decrease in measurement time and increased sensitivity from having the sensor elements and electronics integrated and on chip.

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Currently the TSA [Transport Security Administration] officers use a handheld wand to check for metals on the body. The Caltech system could be added to the same wand and detect chemicals -- even chemicals inside the body of a suicide bomber.

 

We recommend that the move to install the whole body scanners be abandoned and the development of the Caltech system be taken up on a war-footing and introduced. Yes we can ensure the safety of the flying public without compromising the privacy of the individuals.

 

Kindly forward to every friend so that the governments avoid installing the useless whole body scanners in their airports.

 

With prayers to Allah Subhana Wa Taala,

 

Your brother,

 

Mohideen Ibramsha

Was Salaam

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