Defense Technology International - June 2008 - (Page 61)

I Pet Project A Sri Lankan engineer has an unusual technique for land mine detection that he claims is effective: a mongoose tethered to a robot. Thrishantha Nanayakkara came up with the idea while teaching at the University of Moratuwa. A mongoose is ideal for land mine detection because it has a sensitive olfactory lobe that picks up the scent of explosives. A mongoose is also small and light—the mongoose-robot team weighs about 5 kg. (11 lb.), not enough to detonate a land mine, he says. A dog, by contrast, weighs enough to trigger an explosion, and needs a handler. The robot has obstacle-avoidance sensors and is guided to follow the mongoose. A tiny camera transmits images that may indicate mines. Nanayakkara, now in a temporary post at Harvard, says it took 2.5 years to learn how to train the animal. “Now that we know how to do it, training takes two weeks.” The Sri Lankan army is testing the concept. Nanayakkara says reports are positive. He plans to meet this summer with the Defense Dept. to gauge U.S. interest in the idea. I NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC 1 U.S. ARMY Face Value Interrogators know that some people lie so well it’s virtually impossible to tell they’re not truthful. Or maybe it’s not. Researchers at Dalhousie University in Canada ﬁnd that almost imperceptible facial expressions will betray a liar. No matter how composed an individual is, there are facial muscles that can’t be controlled and “won’t be activated in the absence of genuine emotion.” In analyzing video of study participants who were told to respond with deceptive emotions when viewing different images, frame-by-frame analyses showed implausible expressions, some lasting a fraction of a second, in everyone’s face. “The facial expression appears to crack and another emotion leaks on the face, however brieﬂy,” says researcher Leanne ten Brinke. The ability to detect these expressions and follow them up with relevant questions can expose a liar, the research shows. The premise is not without precedent. The Pentagon has funded studies in which laser vibrometers were used to detect minute facial movements as a way of revealing lies. (No data have been released.) The Dalhousie research appears in the May issue of Psychological Science. I 2 OVER THE EDGE Modifying Microbes The largest U.S. consumer of oil is the Pentagon. With the price of oil soaring, efforts are intensifying to develop alternative sources of energy. The Air Force is testing synthetic fuels in aircraft like the venerable B-52 (see photo). USAF is also funding a biofuel program that seeks to develop large quantities of cheap, renewable and clean hydrogen gas from photosynthetic unicellular microbes. The program, known as BioSolarH2, involves researchers at seven universities who are studying algae and cyanobacteria. The researchers are working with microbes that use light energy to split water and produce hydrogen while releasing oxygen. Most microbes make hydrogen in the partial or total absence of oxygen. This is because oxygen renders the enzymes that catalyze the reaction inactive. Researchers want to ﬁnd more oxygen-tolerant microbes.They are evaluating microbes in harsh environments like Utah’s Great Salt Lake and parts of Yellowstone National Park, where organisms evolved high metabolic rates of hydrogen production to regenerate cellular energy. Other approaches involve genetic engineering, and inducing environmental stresses to accelerate hydrogen production. I AviationWeek.com/dti JUNE 2008 DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL 61 3 U.S. AIR FORCE http://AviationWeek.com/dti

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Defense Technology International - June 2008

Defense Technology International - June 2008 Contents Around the World Science Watch Tech Watch Basic Black Self-Defense Fire-Resistant Perfezione Hyperspeed Trial Big Sky Cashing In Digital Links Hang Ten Sea Change Programs Update Two Steps Back Direct Hit Staying Power Potent Stinger Do No Harm Guard Duty The Net Cutting Edge First Person In Review Insight

Defense Technology International - June 2008

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