Machine aims to ID liquids at airport

0 Comments | USA TODAY, September, 2007 | by Mimi Hall

WASHINGTON -- The Homeland Security Department and top government scientists are testing a new baggage-screening machine capable of identifying liquid explosives, a technology that could put an end to unpopular rules affecting carry-on luggage.

The machine would allow a screener to watch on a computer screen as bags pass through a scanner; suspicious liquids would be flagged with a red dot. The technology is being developed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and will be tested next summer at Albuquerque's Sunport airport.

If scientists and engineers can make the technology work well in airports, the Homeland Security Department says it may eliminate the requirement that passengers restrict their carry-on liquids to bottles up to 3 ounces that...