Is There a Bomb in That Burger? The Pentagon Wants to Know.
The Defense Department in recent weeks has invested $5.7 million in research to detect bombs concealed beneath dense goo, such as meat, sludge and animal remains.
Homemade bombs -- improvised explosive devices in Pentagon terms -- took on new meaning for many following the Boston marathon bombing last week. No longer just an acronym for weapons that mangle and kill U.S. troops on the battlefield, IEDs now conjure visions of pressure cookers, nails and other common implements exerting deadly force at home.
Since February, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has been awarding year-long grants to scientists at several universities and technology companies to develop acute, contactless bomb sensors. On Tuesday, the University of Arizona became the latest funding recipient, potentially collecting $900,912 if a roughly six-month extension is exercised.
The aim is to be able to flag explosives concealed in “opaque media” containing a lot of liquid, “such as mud, meat, animal carcasses, etc.,” states an Oct. 12 work description. The project requirements provide the example of a cancerous tumor deep inside a breast.
For bomb detection, however, the technology must not, in any way, touch the item of interest. "DARPA is interested in the recognition of abnormalities in complex high water content media that can be performed at standoff (i.e., no physical contact with the surface of the host medium)," the requirements state.
http://www.nextgov.com/technology-news/2013/04/there-bomb-burger-pentagon-wants-know/62773/?oref=river
