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Thursday, September 26, 2013

NASA & Homeland Security Test New Disaster Recovery Tool

Photo by DHS/John Price
A new portable radar device that detects heartbeats and breathing patterns of victims trapped in rubble is being tested by NASA and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The device, Finding Individuals of Disaster and Emergency Response (FINDER), can reportedly find people people buried as deep as 30 ft in debris, hidden behind 20 ft of solid concrete and from a distance of 100 ft in open spaces. It sends out a low-powered microwave signal to detect individuals and/or animals who are trapped.

"FINDER is bringing NASA technology that explores other planets to the effort to save lives on ours," says NASA's Mason Peck. DHS's John Price says that the main goal of the device is to help emergency responders rescue victims of disasters with the utmost efficiency. Visit NASA's website to view a video about how FINDER works and for more information.