Lasers Could Sniff Out Deadly Landmines In Battlezones

By Paul Thornton

A LASER which can sniff out landmines has been developed by scientists at a Scots university.

Developers hope the hi-tech device could save hundreds of lives by mapping out mine-fields in combat zones such as Afghanistan and Iraq.

It is also thought that the technology, developed by experts at University of St Andrew’s in Fife, could be used to improve security at airports by checking for bombs hidden in luggage.

Dr Graham Turnbull is a lecturer in physics at the university and worked on the project – published this week – with fellow boffins Professor Ying Yang and Dr Ifor Samuel.

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Over two years they created a plastic which emits blue light as a laser beam but which dims when it comes into contact with even tiny traces of the vapour emitted by deadly road-side bombs.

Dr Turnbull, 36, said: “We have shown that our lasers can rapidly sense these TNT-like molecules, frequently used in explosives, at extremely low concentrations.