[ti:Airport Security Could Go to 'Electronic Sniffer Dogs'] [ar:Steve Ember] [al:Technology Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English [00:02.72]Technology Report. [00:04.74]Dogs are known for [00:06.69]a strong sense of smell. [00:09.16]Their noses can be trained [00:11.10]to identify different odors. [00:13.80]Dogs are often used in search [00:16.69]and rescue operations [00:18.54]and to sniff for things [00:21.18]like drugs and explosives. [00:23.37]Some dogs have even been trained [00:26.25]to sniff for cancer in people. [00:29.40]Researchers have been trying to [00:32.00]reproduce the extraordinary sense [00:34.83]of smell that real dogs are born with. [00:38.47]Now, officials at the Glasgow airport [00:42.01]in Scotland are testing [00:43.80]a new security device called [00:46.66]an "electronic sniffer dog." [00:49.39]The electronic sniffer dog [00:52.08]represents one of [00:53.77]the latest developments [00:55.02]in the area of smell technology. [00:57.97]A Scottish company, [01:00.41]Cascade Technologies, joined with [01:03.76]the French security company [01:05.90]Morpho to develop it. [01:08.31]The device uses lasers to identify [01:11.85]explosive material in gases in the air. [01:16.49]The purpose is to identify explosives [01:19.98]that may be hidden on a person's body. [01:23.12]The machine looks similar [01:25.70]to the metal detectors now [01:28.00]used at airports. [01:29.45]Passengers walk through the machine [01:32.23]as the lasers test the surrounding air. [01:36.41]People are not required [01:38.85]to take off their coats, belts or shoes [01:42.10]as part of the security process. [01:44.54]And, unlike full-body scanners, [01:48.13]the new device does not [01:50.28]show images of the passenger. [01:52.73]Officials at Cascade Technologies say [01:56.77]the machine can process [01:58.82]one person per second and produce [02:02.30]almost immediate results. [02:04.99]They say future developments [02:07.97]could cut security processing times [02:10.91]at airports by screening [02:13.05]all passengers at walking speed. [02:16.55]Professor Yushan Yan is the head [02:20.88]of Chemical and Environmental Engineering [02:23.07]at the University of California, Riverside. [02:27.31]His research team has been working [02:30.76]on a similar sniffer device [02:33.64]since two thousand eight. [02:35.89]He points out that unlike real dogs, [02:39.43]electronic devices do not get tired [02:42.82]or need to be walked [02:44.36]or require food and water. [02:47.10]Professor Yan says real sniffer dogs [02:50.83]also have other needs. [02:52.83]YUSHAN YAN: "They also need [02:54.14]very extensive training [02:56.54]that could be expensive. [02:58.38]And when they work they have to [03:01.25]have a very skilled handler around them." [03:05.50]But Professor Yan says in his experience, [03:08.69]there is an important area [03:10.73]where man's best friend [03:12.73]still wins compared to technology. [03:15.86]YUSHAN YAN: "In terms of sensitivity [03:17.61]and selectivity, the current technology [03:22.94]out there is still inferior. [03:26.04]The dog has amazing capability [03:28.98]identifying some really really [03:31.52]minor amount of explosives." [03:34.01]But Professor Yan says [03:36.15]electronic sniffer technology [03:38.34]is developing quickly and could [03:41.27]have a lot of uses in the future. [03:44.27]And that's the VOA Special English [03:47.95]Technology Report, [03:49.56]written by June Simms. [03:51.55]For more of our reports [03:53.64]go to 51voa.com. [03:56.78]I'm Steve Ember.