July/August 2007 Issue

Beware The Fat Man In The Middle Seat

Backscatter x-rays; TSA’s new security system

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BACKSCATTER X-RAYS, which reveal ceramic knives and explosives that metal detectors miss, are due to be rolled out in airports this year. But the public didn’t like test images that make you look “fat and naked,” as the director of the Transportation Security Administration’s lab admitted when she saw her own scan (left). So the tsa has instituted a “privacy algorithm” to convert lifelike figures into cartoonish silhouettes (right). But the algorithm also obscures the weapons the scanner was designed to discover. And weapons hidden between folds of skin and fat fool both versions.


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With only days left until December 31, we've raised about half of our $400,000 goal—but we need a huge surge in reader support to close the remaining gap. Whether you've given before or this is your first time, your contribution right now matters.

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