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Digital Planet: Scanning Concealed Weapons

Factual: Science & Nature

The prototype handheld scanner, MIRLIN

17/12/2013

Scanning Concealed Weapons

BBC World Service - Digital Planet, Scanning Concealed Weapons

The portable scanner that can target and detect concealed weapons from a distance

The portable scanner that can target and detect concealed weapons from a distance; A world map putting electronic waste under the spotlight; The scanning app for a healthier diet.

Researchers in Manchester, in northern England, have been developing a portable scanner which will be able to detect concealed weapons and other threatening devices. The hand-held scanners will be able to be set up not just at airports but at roadblocks and examine individuals at a distance. Professor Nick Bowring joins Click to discuss how it works. 

E-Waste Map
Every year the world produces more and more electronic waste and adds yet more toxic materials to landfills. A new map developed by the UN aims to highlight the huge scale of the problem both for governments and consumers. Ruediger Kuehr tells Click why such a map is needed urgently. And, Jeremy Gregory from MIT, shines a light on where the millions of electronic units generated in the US are going when they are no longer required.

Scanning Food
A smartphone app in New Zealand is helping Kiwis make better choices when it comes to what they eat. Nearly a third of adult New Zealanders are considered obese according to the NZ Ministry of Health. The app, which is free of charge was originally developed in Australia by The George Institute for Global Health and adapted for New Zealand shoppers by The National Institute for Health Innovation at Auckland University. Click’s Simon Morton in New Zealand met the FoodSwitch nutritionist, Dr Helen Eyles, in a downtown supermarket to find out how the app works.

(Photo: The prototype handheld scanner, MIRLIN © Ade Hunter/Manchester Metropolitan University)

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