FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - TSA new pat-down from Millimeter Wave
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Old Oct 11, 2007 | 12:29 am
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bocastephen
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Since I've been barking loudly about this for a long time, I will step up and offer some support for their bringing out new technologies for testing - and an alternative to the dangerous backscatter xray. I'm still troubled by their lack of commitment to testing the more benign ultrasonic waves.

One caveat - millimeter waves are not benign. In fact, the technology has been used to develop weapons which can cause injury or more serious effects.

So - my support is not an endorsement of this technology, but some grudging recognition that they're looking at different solutions - although they need to focus on benign technologies. This device is also obviously first-generation - the person being scanned must stand still and hold a pose for the image to be taken. In the future, I want to see scanning systems which take a multitude of photos as someone is walking, and then layer/compare those photos to develop the comprehensive image.
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