New Scientist reports on a new kind of airport-scanner wand that delivers debilitating shocks. It is intended for use against suicide bombers who, on discovering that they've been found out, try to blow themselves up.
If the passenger is a suicide bomber who realises the wand has found something, the guard might not have enough time to pull out handcuffs or a gun. So the new wand will have a hidden secret – a transformer which steps the detector's battery power up to 100 kilovolts and feeds it to disguised metal electrodes at the end of the wand.
If the wand gives a silent warning of explosives, the guard can then subtly slide the pads onto the passenger's neck or hands and press a shock button. The patent reassures that the effect is "temporary and reversible".
So an innocent traveller who "happened to have a significant amount of metal on his person or happened to treat explosives legally" should wake up shaken but unharmed.
