US GOVT TESTING NEW BAGGAGE-SCREENING MACHINE
RULES affecting carry-on luggage and liquids at airports may soon get liquidated, thanks to a new baggage scanner being developed in the US.
Currently undergoing development by the Homeland Security Department and top government scientists, the scanner may be capable of identifying liquid explosives reported USA Today.
Watching on a computer screen as bags pass, a screener would be able to determine if liquids are safe or hazardous.
Liquids determined to be safe show up with a green dot on the computer, those deemed unsafe get a red dot, and those the machine can't identify get a yellow dot.
Currently, the scanner can identify 50 liquids, some dangerous, some safe.
It will be tested next summer at Albuquerque's Sunport airport in the US.
The Homeland Security Department feels that the carry-on rule and liquid ban, put in place last September after authorities in London uncovered a plot to blow up US-bound airliners with liquid explosives, has been a hassle for passengers and screeners alike.
'We would like to make it a thing of the past,' says MrBrian Tait of the department's science and technology division, which has given Los Alamos $3.3 million to research the technology.
'We're going to make the liquids tell on themselves.'
The project, called Sensit (for 'sense it'), is based on brain-scanning magnetic resonance imaging, known as MRI.
The scanner emits no radiation and uses magnetic signatures to identify the chemicals in liquids at the molecular level.
So far, the scanners can identify 50liquids, some dangerous and some safe.
A Los Alamos scientist said the X-ray machines currently being used can tell screeners whether there is liquid in a bag, but they can't 'differentiate between a sports drink and a material... somebody could use for a bomb'.
In Singapore, restrictions have been implemented since 8 May on the amounts of liquids, aerosols and gels that can be taken in hand-carried luggage on flights from Singapore.
In line with the International Civil Aviation Organisation's guidelines, these liquids must be in containers with a capacity of less than 100ml each.
These containers are to be placed in a transparent re-sealable plastic bag of a capacity not exceeding 1 litre and presented at the security screening point.
A bottle of wine not bought at the airport, for example, must be verified by the duty-free shops to be safe to take on board.
source:
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/st...42706,00.html? 
It may ease carry-on rules on liquids at airport 
Linear Mode
