How about a laser device that can read text from more than three-quarters of a mile away?
One of astronomers’ tricks for observing distant objects is intensity interferometry, which involves comparing the intensity fluctuations recorded at two separate telescopes. Researchers [from the University of Science and Technology of China] have now applied this technique to the imaging of remote objects on Earth. They developed a system that uses multiple laser beams to illuminate a distant target and uses a pair of small telescopes to collect the reflected light. The team demonstrated that this intensity interferometer can image millimeter-wide letters at a distance of 1.36 km [0.845 miles], a 14-fold improvement in spatial resolution compared with a single telescope.
(Original letters and their laser interferometry images)
Zhang and his colleagues plan to develop this technology further by improving their control over the laser light. They also plan to incorporate deep learning into the image reconstruction software. Zhang says that a potential application might be space debris detection—the laser light could be shone on nearby orbiting objects.
“The new work represents a significant technical advancement in imaging distant objects that do not emit their own light,” says Shaurya Aarav, a quantum optics researcher from the Sorbonne University in France. He imagines that the remote-imaging system could have several applications, including monitoring insect populations across agricultural land. Optics expert Ilya Starshynov from the University of Glasgow, UK, is impressed with the “clever” system to deliver incoherent light to a distant target. “The fact that they can image millimeter-sized objects at over-kilometer distances is genuinely impressive,” he says.
There's more at the link.
There are obvious scientific and industrial applications for this technology, some of which are mentioned in the article. However, what about its military and security implications? For example:
- Huge strides have been made in the ability to "see" and identify small objects on the battlefield, such as small drones; but this might provide a quantum leap in capability. Tiny handheld drones such as those used by special forces (e.g. the well-known Black Hornet) have until now been almost immune to detection, and hence unlikely to betray the presence of the forces using them. This new technology might change that.
- Also, think of the intelligence implications. If I understand the article correctly, and if the technology can be miniaturized and made more mobile, one could use it to read blueprints, secret documents, etc. through an office window from hundreds of yards away, without anyone ever being aware of it.
Those are scary thoughts . . .
Peter
8 comments:
How long before it gets out to the commercial sector, and is used to spy on the population. London's traffic cams on steroids for a simple example.
This is what blackout drapes were invented for.
Reflective target, incrementally rotated by 360 degrees (that may be a reporter's mistake), varying the separation of the telescopes (possibly for separate experiments to determine the best image?).
They won't be reading reports over someone's shoulder just yet. And remembering *not* to read it with your back to the window is a cure for that. At least until they manage to read it *through* the paper (some heating of the paper may be involved).
Yes I know it's early days but I do wonder how practical it will be for spying.
Drone detection would involve a whole lot of lasers moving around since the drone would haver to be illuminated by several beams to be detected this way.
The surface of the earth is 140 million square miles. Detecting a drone the size of a quarter might not be as easy as just having a laser program that can see small things, although I do agree it is a step forward. As far as "through a window", highly classified documents shouldn't be waved around or discussed in rooms with windows. They've had microphones that could read speech waves from windows for decades. So I suspect that it will be used for nefarious purposed, but that people will adjust to the new requirements. So maybe not too scary.
Invasive technology used to be a novelty that didn't worry anybody except paranoid people because the rest of us had nothing to hide, we thought. Secretiveness is now suspicious, technology now spies on itself spying on the rest of us, and everybody's got something to hide, not excepting me and my monkey.
I feel sorry for younger generations, having grown up with structure and discipline that made things simpler for kids of my model year. This is not the worst time and place in history to be old.
rick m
The ways laser light can be detected, deflected, and obscured are myriad.
And then there's the obvious: plant false information to screw with perceptions.
And if everybody starts blasting lasers hither and yon 24/7/365, the number of problems with that will multiply exponentially too.
This is notable, but not worrisome.
The wake of the drone's rotor causes a distrubance in the air several times larger than the drone itself, thus increasing its signature. Co-aligning radar with laser sensors would likely identify drones, even tiny ones, more easily.
AI can't decipher cursive. Cursive is no longer a 'standard' in schools. Coincidence?
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