Scientists have developed a system that would use a network of cell phones to detect and track radiation to help prevent terrorist attacks with radiological “dirty bombs” and nuclear weapons.
Researchers at Purdue University are working with the state of Indiana on a system they say could ultimately blanket the nation with millions of cell phones equipped with radiation sensors able to detect even light residues of radioactive material. Because cell phones already contain global positioning locators, the network of phones would serve as a tracking system, researchers said.
The system requires a software load on the cell phone as well as the addition of a radiation sensor. Tiny solid-state radiation sensors are commercially available, researchers said. The detection system would require additional circuitry and would not add significant bulk to portable electronic products, researchers said.
“The sensors don’t really perform the detection task individually,” said Purdue physics professor Ephraim Fischbach in a release. “The collective action of the sensors, combined with the software analysis, detects the source. The system would transmit signals to a data center, and the data center would transmit information to authorities without alerting the person carrying the phone. Say a car is transporting radioactive material for a bomb, and that car is driving down Meridian Street in Indianapolis or Fifth Avenue in New York. As the car passes people, their cell phones individually would send signals to a command center, allowing authorities to track the source.
“It’s the ubiquitous nature of cell phones and other portable electronic devices that give this system its power,” Fischbach said. “It’s meant to be small, cheap and eventually built into laptops, personal digital assistants and cell phones.”
The system was developed by Purdue alum, Andrew Longman, a consulting instrumentation scientist. Longman developed the software for the system and then worked with Purdue researchers to integrate the software with radiation detectors and cell phones. Cellular data air time was provided by AT&T.
In addition to detecting radiological dirty bombs designed to scatter hazardous radioactive materials over an area, the system also could be used to detect nuclear weapons, which create a nuclear chain reaction that causes a powerful explosion. The system also could be used to detect spills of radioactive materials.
The system could be trained to ignore known radiation sources, such as hospitals, and radiation from certain common items, such as bananas, which contain a radioactive isotope of potassium, researchers said.
Interestingly it is radiation and other issues that made the National Research Council say in a report issued last week that says lots more research needs to be done on wireless devices as effects from high exposure to radio frequency (RF) energy emitted by these devices proliferates. In the report, the council says new research is needed to increase understanding of any potential adverse effects of RF energy on humans.
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