Study: Body scanners fail to spot some weapons, explosives

From the Daily Record:

The X-ray body scanners increasingly in use at airport security checkpoints across the country cannot detect certain types of explosives and weapons, according to research by two respected academics.

So-called backscatter X-ray machines, which are designed to see through clothing to detect non-metal weapons and explosives, have difficulty differentiating between plastic explosives and human flesh, a study appears in the Journal of Transportation Security says.

One of the study's authors, Joseph Carlson, a physicist who specializes in testing of medical imaging equipment, says the review was designed to add to the debate over whether the machines, which create blurry images of the body, are worth the intrusion on the public.