If technology is anything to go by then landmines and explosives will soon be a thing of the past thanks to D Ravi Shankaran,

Smart sensors to detect landmines

If technology is anything to go by then landmines and explosives will soon be a thing of the past thanks to D Ravi Shankaran, an assistant professor in the PSG Institute of Advanced Studies in Coimbatore. He claims that landmines and explosives could be detected with smart sensors developed by his team of scientists. "After five to six years of painstaking research, we have developed a smart sensor integrating biotechnology and nanotechnology. These bio-nano sensors are so sensitive to explosives of any kind that they can find out any hazardous material even if they are only of minute quantities," Ooty born Ravi Shankaran told DNA. He was in Chennai to address the delegates of the National Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology organised by the University of Madras. "Our experiments in Afghanistan, home to the largest minefields and explosives, proved that our sensors are 100% foolproof. To put it simply, this devise is an electronic version of a dog's nose. We just did the reverse engineering process of a dog's nose," he said. The process to produce them commercially will start soon. "But for that to happen, we have to cross some more hurdles because of the sensitive nature of the instrument. Don't forget that we are playing with some of the most dangerous substances in the world," he said. Though security services all over the world have technology to clear landmines as well as explosives, they are costly and dangerous.