SNIFFING OUT STOWAWAYS
One way to catch illegal immigrants is to sniff them out, says Hitachi of Tokyo (EP 1321766). Not to put too fine a point on it, when stowaways hide for long periods in an enclosed space they produce a distinctive body odour. The idea is to look for this smell signature in air samples. Immigration officials would take samples via a narrow tube that they poke through any vent into a container or a lorry. Hitachi鈥檚 device then identifies the gases in a mass spectrometer. Any trace of body-odour chemicals would prompt further checks on the container or lorry.
ANTHRAX KILLER
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Following the anthrax attacks in the US two years ago, mail rooms have been looking for ways to make sure incoming letters are safe. One way to kill anthrax is to irradiate it, but this can also destroy inks, making letters unreadable. The Xenon Corporation of Massachusetts has found that carefully timed pulses of intense ultraviolet light will kill biowarfare pathogens, including anthrax bacteria, inside letters without affecting writing or print (WO 03/061382). Suspect objects are put on a conveyor that passes under a high-intensity UV lamp. The lamp repeatedly zaps the object, and the movement of the conveyer changes the angle of illumination to prevent some bacteria shielding others.
MAGNETIC BRAKES
Motorists would cut down on maintenance bills if their cars never needed new brake pads or drums. Visteon Global Technologies of Dearborn in Michigan thinks it knows how to make this possible with the help of some simple electromagnetics (GB 2386000). The company鈥檚 idea is to surround a rotating brake drum with many small electromagnets. When the electromagnets power up, they induce an 鈥渆ddy current鈥� in the rotating drum. These currents interact with the magnetic field to oppose the drum rotation, slowing down the car. The company provides an ordinary mechanical pad brake as an emergency back-up in case the power fails.
