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Clausthal (pte040/06.03.2003/15:19) - German scientists have invented a life-saving smart stick for mine-hunters that uses a powerful laser beam to tell the difference between a landmine in the soil and a buried tin can.
Clausthal Technical University http://www.tu-clausthal.de/ said the device can be mounted on the tip of sticks that mine-clearers use to prod the soil after metal-detectors have located a buried object.
A pulse of laser light briefly creates a gas plasma on the surface of the explosive. When electrons recombine with the ionized atoms, tiny flashes of light are emitted. The device analyses those flashes for telltale signs. Plain plastic or soil give each back different signs.
The United Nations has estimated about 70 million live mines are scattered in the soil around the world. They kill or injure about 2,000 people every month. Finding them is hard because so much other junk is buried in the soil.
The university said mine-removal was so dangerous that one accident for every 1,000 mines cleared was currently normal. Most mine hunters rely on their sense of touch when probing the soil.
More work, in cooperation with the German army, will be needed to make the smart stick completely practical. It will need to be equipped with a tiny drill on the tip. This would bore a hole in the mine so that the device can "see" the explosive.
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