(Image Source: Extreme Tech)
BY SAMUEL JOSEPH
ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN
You're watching multisource global video news analysis from Newsy.
Comic book powers continue to become a reality. First we had strength-enhancing body armor. Then we had gadgets that could hear through concrete. And now? We have x-ray vision.
Researchers at MIT have created a radar device that can see through solid walls. They explain how it works.
GREGORY CHARVAT: “Of the radiation that we emit at the wall, only .6 percent of that actually gets through the wall itself. Now, what little energy actually scatters off the humans behind the wall has to then go back through the wall. When it goes back through the wall it again loses 99.4 of that energy that was scattered off the humans. And now this extremely weak signal comes back through the wall towards our radar where we receive it.”
Pretty cool-- but according to Pop Sci what’s really amazing is the speed at which the radar works.
“...the new radar system is able to produce what basically amounts to a realtime video of movements on the other side of a solid wall at 10.8 frames per second.”
And the radar can do this as far as 60 feet from the wall. The project leader is quoted in TG Daily explaining-- all this is to aid soldiers during combat in urban warfare.
"If you’re in a high-risk combat situation, you don’t want one image every 20 minutes, and you don’t want to have to stand right next to a potentially dangerous building.”
But this accomplishment has raised some concerns over privacy. CNN spoke with an ACLU representative who says there’s potential for abuse.
“Technology is developing at a rate that far surpasses Congress’ ability or willingness to adapt our laws to ensure that ordinary people are protected from the vast new powers these tools provide to the government. ... We urge lawmakers to get ahead of the curve to protect our privacy before it is too late.”
So far the radar can only give a top down view and only show blobs rather than distinct shapes. The researchers say the next step in development is making the device easier to read.
Transcript by Newsy.
