RSSDIY Nuke detector patrols SF Bay
Wired has an article about a group of Makers who made their own portable radiation detector to patrol the San Francisco bay while we wait for gov get their detectors... 5 years from now - "The Department of Homeland Security announced plans last month to bolster U.S. port defenses with radiation scanners. The program, primarily aimed at detecting nukes smuggled by terrorists in shipping containers, will cost an estimated $1.15 billion, but won't be completed until 2011.
Here on the San Francisco Bay, a group of do-it-yourself volunteer researchers is not waiting for the mushroom cloud. They say they are close to perfecting a portable device that could do much the same thing right now, for total out-of-pocket costs of about $12,000. The group, led by physicist and Sandia Lab weapons subcontractor Stanley Glaros, says it has already built a boat-mounted scanner with off-the-shelf parts that might reliably spot radiation spikes in container ships at sea from a kilometer away." - Link.
Hmm, this would be a good open source hardware project to coordinate, and with enough people making these, the costs could go down...
Pictured here, the USB GM-10 Geiger Counter Radiation Detector - Link.
Related:
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Aug 23, 2006 02:52 AM
DIY Projects |
Permalink
| Comments (3)
Recent Entries
- HOW TO - build a water mortar
- Jake's steamcar project, dashboard redo
- Build your own water quality tester
- MAKE @ Yahoo! Buzz
- Made in Japan Vol. 3
- Super Breakout version allows for competitive or collaborative gaming
- How DIYers just might revive American innovation
- Light-Field camera makes blurry images a thing of the past
- Make a pizza box solar oven
- DIY Security system calls your phone
Comments
Oldest comments listed first.
That's good. I worry about the nuclear wessels.
Spin spin spin. Come one, although it's a fun project we all should calm down a bit. If it's worth 10kUSD i suggest investing the money in fundings for 3rd-world developing-aid.
*sigh*
Sorry to say this, but the terrorism-craze finally swept over to Germany. We geeks seem to be the only remaining sane people in the world - don't get infected by threat-levels. The level of paranoia seemed to have risen by a couple of magnitudes since the attempted bomb-attacks in german trains (with propan-bottles, not nukes!) and every stupid unknown and unimportant politician seems to be a security-policy expert nowadays.
Bruce Schneier had a nice rant about it today: http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/08/what_the_terror.html
Just my 2c,
Alex.
$12,000?
I'm in the process of putting together something for under $200.
Take an RM-60 geiger counter from here: http://www.aw-el.com/
Wire it up to an old Palm Pilot or laptop or hacked GPS like a Magellan 3100: http://www.hackaday.com/2007/12/10/hack-upgrade-your-magellan-gps/
Maybe even a bluetooth link to a cell phone..hmmm
Subscribe to MAKE Magazine!
Subscribe today, save 42% and get web access to MAKE free. MAKE Digital Edition is available only to subscribers.
$34.95 / 1 year
(4 Quarterly Issues)
Features and more @ MAKE!
MAKE @ The NYC Toy Fair 2008 - Covering DIY!HOW TO - Build the arms of assistance.
MADE in Japan - Part I.
MADE in Japan - Part II.
MADE in Japan - Part III.
Make store - Blinky bug kit - Blink!
Make store - Loud Objects Noise Toy Kit
Makers - MAKE Flickr pool contest. Win cool stuff!
Makers - Join the MAKE Facebook page - Meet other makers.
MAKE on Twitter - Tweet! Tweet!
What you're reading in MAKE - Data!
Add MAKE to your RSS reader - Real simple.
Why advertise on MAKE?
Read what folks are saying about us!
Click here to advertise on MAKE!
Phillip Torrone
Senior Editor
Tel: 707-827-7311
Gareth Branwyn
Robot Maker
Jonah Brucker-Cohen
Researcher
Natalie Zee Drieu
Senior Editor
CRAFT
Becky Stern
Culture jammer
Collin Cunningham
Sound Maker
Marc de Vinck
CNC Maker
Current Podcast
AHAB High Altitude Ballooning - Best of Weekend Projects
mp4|mov|hd|3gp|3g2|itunes This week on Best of Weekend Projects, we look back at part two of the AHAB (High Altitude Balloon Adventure). In this epic Bre & Co. travel to Eastern Washington to launch a GPS and camera enabled balloon...
More...
