Sensor network tracks down illegal bomb-making
Terrorists can manufacture bombs with relative ease, few aids and easily accessible materials such as synthetic fertilizer. Not always do security forces succeed in preventing the attacks and tracking down illegal workshops in time. But bomb manufacturing leaves its traces: Remains of the synthetic fertilizer stick to stairs and doorknobs, waste from the manufacturing process gets into the sewerage and is deposited in air ducts. Until now, no technology for systematically discovering illegal bomb production in an early stage has been commercially available. Researchers have now developed a sensor network as part of the EU project "Emphasis" which can detect such activity early on and locate it precisely. Last week, they showed how a simple kitchen used to manufacture explosives can be tracked down at the test site of the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) near Grindsjön in southern Sweden.