Fear detector may sniff out terrorists, British scientists say
Read more:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2009/11/02/2009-11-02_fear_detector_may.html#ixzz0VjFD4va7A trickle of sweat may trigger the alarm on future terrorist attacks.
British scientists are developing a fear detector that can sniff out anxious terrorists, London’s Daily Mail reported Monday, as well as drug smugglers and criminals on the run.
The technology will rely on recognizing a pheromone - or scent signal - produced in sweat when a person is scared, the paper said.
"The challenge lies in the characterization and identification of the specific chemical that gives away the signature of human fear, especially the fear in relation to criminal acts," research team leader Prof. Tong Tun told The Engineer magazine, according to the Mail.
Evidence that the smell of fear is real was uncovered by U.S. scientists last year who studied the underarm secretions of 20 terrified novice skydivers.
Scientists at City University London now hope to develop security sensor systems that can detect the human fear pheromone. The project will look at potential obstacles to reliable detection, such as the effects of perfume.
Although the research is at an early stage, the aim is to develop a prototype device in the next two to three years.
"I do not see any particular reason why similar sensor techniques cannot be expanded to identify human smells by race, age or gender to build a profile of a criminal during or after an incident," Tun said.
In the U.S. study, scientists at Long Island’s Stony Brook University used taped absorbent pads to soak up sweat from the skydivers' armpits just before they made their first tandem jump.
Other volunteers, who were not told the true nature of the experiment, were later asked to sniff the samples through a nebuliser. At the same time, their brains were scanned.
The study showed that the scent of sweat from the scared skydivers triggered a heightened response in brain regions associated with fear.
But sweat samples taken from the skydivers as they ran on a treadmill - with their feet safely on the ground - did not have the same effect.
Animals are known to produce 'alarm pheromones' to alert each other to danger.