No one wants to board a plane with a terrorist, but neither would travelers much enjoy being marched through an irradiating x-ray machine that flashes their naked body to TSA workers. The British company Thruvision’s T5000 is the first security camera to spot a wide range of concealed contraband—bombs, guns, drugs, liquids and plastic explosives—without revealing anatomical details. The T5000 picks up faint electromagnetic signals known as terahertz waves, or T-rays, naturally emitted by all people and things.
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Science is reinventing play, from extreme sports to gamification to ridiculous roller coasters to the playgrounds of tomorrow, and this issue is chock full of fun. Also, on a less fun note: Did global warming destroy my hometown?