Altadena, CA (PRWEB) November 29, 2005
Responding to an increased global threat from explosive devices worn by suicide bombers, VIASPACE, a publicly traded California technology company, is working to develop and commercialize instruments to detect improvised explosive devices and other concealed weapons.
VIASPACE is developing a project called DEEPSCAN, designed to detect concealed explosives from “standoff distances.” An immediate homeland security application for DEEPSCAN would be scanning entrances to critical infrastructure (government buildings and nuclear power plants), transportation facilities (subways, airports, docks), and border crossings to detect possible suicide bombers.
Another project currently in development at VIASPACE concerns the threat of chemical and biological warfare. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that pathogen sensors are not in place to detect that a chemical or biological attack has taken place. VIASPACE has a contract with the U.S. Navy to develop a miniaturized, portable device to detect chemical and biological warfare agents in air and water samples.
Utilizing patents licensed from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, VIASPACE is developing a mass spectrometer that could enable a 10x increase in sensitivity to sniff out chemical and biological warfare agents, common contaminants, and narcotics. The new miniaturized, portable mass spectrometer could be far superior to any current tabletop laboratory instruments and promises to ring in a new era of nanotechnology-based monitoring devices and detection systems for homeland security and defense applications. The VIASPACE system is designed to allow high sensitivity in a portable system – a carry-on suitcase in the near term and a shoebox or smaller size in the future. With its projected ruggedness, low power consumption and cost, the system could be deployed in many applications where monitoring of air, water, or other substances is required.
In the light of current terrorist activities around the world, these new technology innovations hold out hope for better Homeland Security in the future.
Contact: VIASPACE Inc.
Name: AJ Abdallat
Email: abdallat@viaspace.com
Website: http://www.viaspace.com
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