April 20, 2006
New Detectors Sniff Terrorists' Scents
The Pentagon...wants to keep track of potential enemies-of-the-state in every way imaginable: not just by sight, or by sound, or by their e-mail; but by their smell, as well.
Darpa's "Unique Signature Detection Project (formerly known as the Odortype Detection program)" aims to sniff out genetic markers in "human emanations (urine, sweat, etc.)" that "can be used to identify and distinguish specific high-level-of-interest individuals within groups of enemy troops."
Darpa's smell detector is part of a larger, $15 million-per-year effort to develop "novel sensors" for U.S. troop operating in "urban settings." The goal of the Urban Vision program is "to enable the warfighter to 'see' movers within a building using a variety of fused multi-spectral techniques." The "Enemy Dismount Intrusion Detection program," on the other hand, "will develop a chemical sensor that is capable of providing an advanced warning of the presence of enemy troops or combatants by detecting the chemical emissions... that are common to all humans."
~Every year or so since 9/11, DARPA reprints a version of this story. I don't have a clue if they're any closer to making it happen. If they're compiling an Odortype Database of bad guys, for example. But wouldn't they WANT to keep Odortype Detection, as well as other 'novel sensors' a secret?
>somewhat related:
China's Xinhua news agency reported in March that the police department in Nanjing has gone beyond fingerprints and now has a data bank of smells taken from criminals and crime scenes to aid police dogs in investigations. Officials say that storing the scents
at minus-18 degrees (C) retards degradation for at least three years,
and already, they say, the bank of 500 odors has led to the
identification of 23 suspects. [BBC News, 3-16-06] by way of News of the Weird (April 30)
[illus google\ not DefenseTech]