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I wonder if we could use bees instead then, as there seemed to be some interesting research on training them to detect drugs and presumably they wouldn't be bia

I wonder if we could use bees instead then, as there seemed to be some interesting research on training them to detect drugs and presumably they wouldn't be biased by human behaviour especially. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymenoptera_training https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymenoptera_training Alternatively are there any portable mass spectrometers now?

jonlucc 11y ago
Surely a portable mass spec would be an actual search?
- eli 11y ago
  You'd hope so, especially since the court ruled that pointing thermal imaging cameras at your house from the street constitutes a search.
DanBC 11y ago
Another thing Bees were being used to detect was explosive, but researchers discovered that bees detected the impurities in explosives. If you gave the bees pure samples of explosive they didn't do very well. Professor Jackie Akhavan (Professor of Explosive Chemistry) mentioned this on the BBC programme "The Life Scientific", where a scientist talks to other scientists about their work. It's for a general audience so nothing particularly technical, but still interesting.
- deutronium 11y ago
  Cheers, I'll see if I can grab that.
  - DanBC 11y ago
    Sorry! I forget to include the link. Here's that specific episode: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04jk360 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04jk360 > Jackie Akhavan, Professor of Explosive Chemistry, tells Jim al-Khalili all about the science of explosives. She explains exactly what explosives are and how to make them safer to handle. > She started by working on how to make fireworks safer and has been involved in research with bees to see whether they can be used smell different types of explosives. Her current project involves testing the rocket fuel that will be used in Bloodhound, the British designed and built supersonic car that aims to reach a speed of 1,000mph. > Her work involves finding out how to best detect explosives in airports and elsewhere, teaching security professionals how to differentiate between false alarms and the real thing. She also works on explosives used in warfare and discusses the ethical issues involved.

jonlucc 11y ago

Surely a portable mass spec would be an actual search?

eli 11y ago
You'd hope so, especially since the court ruled that pointing thermal imaging cameras at your house from the street constitutes a search.

DanBC 11y ago

Another thing Bees were being used to detect was explosive, but researchers discovered that bees detected the impurities in explosives. If you gave the bees pure samples of explosive they didn't do very well. Professor Jackie Akhavan (Professor of Explosive Chemistry) mentioned this on the BBC programme "The Life Scientific", where a scientist talks to other scientists about their work. It's for a general audience so nothing particularly technical, but still interesting.

deutronium 11y ago
Cheers, I'll see if I can grab that.
- DanBC 11y ago
  Sorry! I forget to include the link. Here's that specific episode: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04jk360 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04jk360 > Jackie Akhavan, Professor of Explosive Chemistry, tells Jim al-Khalili all about the science of explosives. She explains exactly what explosives are and how to make them safer to handle. > She started by working on how to make fireworks safer and has been involved in research with bees to see whether they can be used smell different types of explosives. Her current project involves testing the rocket fuel that will be used in Bloodhound, the British designed and built supersonic car that aims to reach a speed of 1,000mph. > Her work involves finding out how to best detect explosives in airports and elsewhere, teaching security professionals how to differentiate between false alarms and the real thing. She also works on explosives used in warfare and discusses the ethical issues involved.