Monday, May 16, 2011

Scientists on the Bogus Tests "Proving" Airport Scanners Safe

In a letter sent to White House, a group of scientists are questioning tests that the TSA is using to claim that full body scanners used at airports are safe. The letter was a response to a letter from the Department of Health and Human Services regarding a letter sent last year by the scientists

The five scientists who signed the letter question why the TSA won't make the scanners available for independent testing by outside scientists.

The professors, from the University of California, San Francisco, and one at Arizona State University, point out several flaws in the tests.

They note that the Johns Hopkins lab, where the tests were conducted, didn't test an actual airport machine. Instead, the tests were done on a model built by the manufacturer, Rapiscan, and configured to resemble a system previously tested by the TSA.

The Johns Hopkins researchers' names have been kept secret, and the report  on the tests is so "heavily redacted" that "there is no way to repeat any of these measurements," the scientists  wrote.

The scientists also raised concerns about the device used to measure the radiation. Although the device, known as an ion chamber, is commonly used to test medical equipment, they argue that the detector gets overwhelmed by the amount of radiation the backscatter deposits in a short time and might not provide accurate readings.

10 comments:

  1. If your backscatter radiation machine is overwhelming the test equipment, it's probably putting out too much radiation.

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  2. "Ion chamber", LOL, sounds like something out of Star Wars.

    I've been on numerous flights since the pornoscanners were implemented. I have yet to be pornoscanned. Saying "I opt out" before being led into the gas cham-- I mean, pornoscanner, is really all it takes. Sometimes you will have to be molested by a TSA employee trying to hard to pretend he's as uncomfortable as you are with the whole thing (only happened once so far, and he was obviously getting a major thrill out of it) but most of the time they'll just stare at you blankly, shrug and then send you through the metal detector without another word.

    Amazing thing is, I was the only person each time, in lines of a hundred people, who I noticed taking this option. Not saying I am great or smart or special, I just can't believe a.) no one else has heard about opting out and b.) people really don't think to question or become confrontational about this absurd process, AT ALL.

    It's quite chilling how subdued the average person has become.

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  3. Rapiscan...
    Rape-i-scan...

    I rest my case.

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  4. I prefer pornotron myself.

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  5. We might as well get used to living in a world of sheeple. The only thing we can do is watch out for ourselves.

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  6. I have to echo Taylor's comment above.

    I've ALWAYS "opted - out".

    I've ALWAYS been groped.

    I have NEVER seen another passenger "opt-out".

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  7. even a single photon of ionizing radiation can mutate into something very bad. You can argue the possibility is very low, but when you're laying up in the hospital bed with a tumor the size of a grapefruit in you brain...you might just wish you had skipped the unnecessary exposure.

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  8. As if the groping is better?

    How would you feel seeing your wife or you daughter pawed on by some dim witted TSA thug? Or your little 6 year old boy?

    It's about teaching us to submit, that we are guilty, that we must bow to authority. Security my ass. They could use well trained dogs to handle all of the necessary security.

    Enough is enough.

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  9. "Scientists on the Bogus Tests "Proving" Airport Scanners Safe." I'm sorry, but I'm going to need to see these Scientists' bank statements from the past year!

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  10. Watching the cattle, er, I mean, watching my fellow passengers file through the scanner, I can't help but think how easy it must of been for the Nazis to get people into the gas chambers.

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