Friday, February 6, 2015

Terahertz (one of ) -9 revolutionary projects the military is funding

My Note: The interest in THz, continues to mount.

http://www.geek.com/science/9-revolutionary-projects-the-military-is-funding-1614996/

Noninvasive medical technology

darpa 4
Between the infrared and microwave portions of the EM spectrum, there is a previously little-known area called terahertz radiation, or submillimeter waves. Radiation in this portion of the spectrum has some interesting qualities, in that it carries a fair amount of energy while still being safe for use in and around the human body. That’s great if you want to use them to flood the world with high-speed wireless broadband, but powerful, biologically safe rays have another obvious application, especially for the military.
While the magical tricorder may seem like one of the more fanciful Star Trek creations, that’s just the sort of functionality DARPA is working towards with terahertz technology: non-invasive diagnosis of a wide range of ailments. The first generation of devices would most likely have the ability to look only a few millimeters beneath the skin — but that’s still an incredible ability. Right now there are big technological problems with actually creating waves in this area of the spectrum, though, which is why the technology has been so slow in arriving.

No comments: