Top header wildcard
Electronics Industry Search
Already a member? Log In
New to the site? Register
TALK BACK

  Comments
  • There are no comments posted for this article.


Blogs
New St. Anthony’s Falls Span Nears Completion a year after Minneapolis Bridge Collapse from Design engineering at large
The final span in the new Interstate St. Anthony Falls 35W bridge in Minneapolis was to be put in the place this week just days before the one ye...
COMMUNITY CHANNELS
  Motion Control/Automation
  Electronics/Test
  Software/Hardware
  Materials/Fastening
  Automotive
  Careers


ADVERTISEMENT
  Print Friendly Version  |     Email This to a Friend  |     |  Article tools sponsored by 


Neutron detector finds land mines

by Bruce Wiebusch, Regional Editor -- Design News, November 5, 2001
 



ADVERTISEMENT


Sponsored Content

Technology Marketplace



The United Nations estimates that, at present rates, clearing the approximately 110 million landmines buried in seventy countries could take more than 1,000 years. Richard Craig, a physicist at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, is developing a new method for detecting landmines. His prototype is called the Timed Neutron Detector. Unlike today's metal detectors, which cannot detect all-plastic landmines, it works by detecting the slowing of neutrons that encounter hydrogen. Hydrogen is found in both explosives and plastics. As neutrons leave the detector, a time-tagging radiation source obtained from the DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory records each neutron's exit. Then, neutrons return after either interacting with the soil or with the hydrogen found in landmines. Neutrons that interact with soil will return to the detector at nearly the same speed at which they left. The detector ignores them. Instead, the detector focuses on neutrons that interact with hydrogen. The neutron's speed slows down when it interacts with hydrogen because it has about the same mass as a hydrogen nucleus "It's a little like billiards," says Craig. "When the cue ball strikes another ball of the same mass, the second ball takes some of the energy and the cue ball loses energy and slows down." Additional applications for the neutron detecting technology include forensic and law enforcement applications. For more information, send e-mail to inquiry@pnl.gov. The website for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory is www.ornl.com.

  Print Friendly Version  |     Email This to a Friend  |     |  Article tools sponsored by 

 
Talkback Comments on this Story

There are no comments posted for this article.

ADVERTISEMENT
DN'S RESOURCE CENTER Get Free Information, Made Easy



ADVERTISEMENT
Design News Partner Zone

JUNE 26TH WEBCAST: Collaborative Requirements Engineering
Speed your innovation. Capture the "voice of the customer" and translate customer requests into user requirements that define new products. Find out why the new ENOVIA Requirements Management solution enables organizations to improve their overall global requirements management process. Read More

MechatronicsMechatronics in action
Successful synergistic integration of controls, electronics, computers and mechanical systems is key to the 21st century design process.  Unlock the secrets at the Mechatronics Zone!

AvnetWebcast: Sensor Know-How Now
Join our moderator Randy Frank and John Keating from Cognex and explore Solving Industrial Inspection Problems. Read More

MechatronicsEngineering Concept Conduit
Engineering Concept Conduit looks at new products and the components that make them exceptional. Each month we’ll look at a new electronic product and see what makes it tick from an engineering point of view. We’ll explore the design and engineering challenges for the product and examine the components that solved those challenges.

Light Matters: Systems Level Approach to HBLED illumination applications
Its good practice to apply a systems-level approach to high-brightness LED (HBLED) illumination applications. Minimally, the system includes the optical, thermal and electrical characteristics of the of the HBLED, the lens (if any) which is built-in to its package, secondary optics such as external plastic lenses/reflectors to direct the light as your application requires and power driver electronics. Read More

Partner Zone Directory >>


Sponsored Technology Links
HOME |  PRINT EDITION | E-NEWSLETTERS | DIGITAL EDITION | ADVERTISE WITH US | 
ABOUT DESIGN NEWS | CONTACT US | RSS NEWS FEEDS | AFFILIATE LINKS DIRECTORY | ECARDS | FACEBOOK
©1997-2008 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Use of this Web site is subject to is Terms of Use |  Privacy Policy
Please visit these other Reed Business sites