Close Protection World News
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Although it may sound like a bad joke, security officials in Israel are genuinely training rodents to operate as sniffer mice in a bid to try and identify weapons and explosives that terrorists might be trying to smuggle through airports and onto flights. Passengers need not be too alarmed, however, as officials have said that the mice would not be allowed to roam free over the passengers but would be kept in cages and allowed to discreetly sniff passengers and bags as they passed.
Experts have said that the system could potentially help to identify those that have bombs inserted in their bodies, which is widely believed to be one of the main growing threats that face aviation security around the world. Although there is no announcement of similar sniffer mice being introduced to UK airports, experts have said that passengers should expect to see changes to the way that airport security is handled, as airports, airlines, and security personnel attempt to better manage the risk of terrorist threats.
One of the proposed changes is that of dynamic lanes, whereby passengers are assessed for their level of risk, and those that pose a low or no risk would be allowed to pass potentially without having to remove shoelaces and belts or undergo special checks for laptops and other electronic devices. The exact details of this proposed system are not yet known, but it is believe that it could be introduced in the hope that it would help to quell queues as well as increase security.
According to Israeli officials, mice are very easy to train, and can be trained automatically by machines rather than having to have human handlers, like sniffer dogs require. Their acute sense of smell means that it is not just explosives that they could be trained to detect either, with other possible uses including the detection of ivory, the detection of drugs, or the detection of any item or material that has a specific scent.
Yuval Amsterdam, vice president of X-Test, the company behind the idea for training sniffer mice, has said that they could prove to be much more efficient than sniffer dogs, because they can be used in larger number, they can be used covertly, and they be trained in large number very quickly, thanks to the fact that they can be trained by machine rather than having to be trained by people. He also added that you don’t need to take them for a walk, and said that they become bio-sensors once they have been fully trained.
Most airport security checks involve metal detectors and x-ray checks, and these can, according to many security experts, be duped and beaten. Only a handful of passengers are stopped for swab testing in order to identify the existence of any explosive devices because of the time it takes to conduct this test. Mr Amsterdam hopes that his company, X-Test, has found the solution. Could we see hordes of sniffer mice at airports in the UK?
Experts have said that the system could potentially help to identify those that have bombs inserted in their bodies, which is widely believed to be one of the main growing threats that face aviation security around the world. Although there is no announcement of similar sniffer mice being introduced to UK airports, experts have said that passengers should expect to see changes to the way that airport security is handled, as airports, airlines, and security personnel attempt to better manage the risk of terrorist threats.
One of the proposed changes is that of dynamic lanes, whereby passengers are assessed for their level of risk, and those that pose a low or no risk would be allowed to pass potentially without having to remove shoelaces and belts or undergo special checks for laptops and other electronic devices. The exact details of this proposed system are not yet known, but it is believe that it could be introduced in the hope that it would help to quell queues as well as increase security.
According to Israeli officials, mice are very easy to train, and can be trained automatically by machines rather than having to have human handlers, like sniffer dogs require. Their acute sense of smell means that it is not just explosives that they could be trained to detect either, with other possible uses including the detection of ivory, the detection of drugs, or the detection of any item or material that has a specific scent.
Yuval Amsterdam, vice president of X-Test, the company behind the idea for training sniffer mice, has said that they could prove to be much more efficient than sniffer dogs, because they can be used in larger number, they can be used covertly, and they be trained in large number very quickly, thanks to the fact that they can be trained by machine rather than having to be trained by people. He also added that you don’t need to take them for a walk, and said that they become bio-sensors once they have been fully trained.
Most airport security checks involve metal detectors and x-ray checks, and these can, according to many security experts, be duped and beaten. Only a handful of passengers are stopped for swab testing in order to identify the existence of any explosive devices because of the time it takes to conduct this test. Mr Amsterdam hopes that his company, X-Test, has found the solution. Could we see hordes of sniffer mice at airports in the UK?