NSF Study: Catch the bombs before the bomber even considers it!

Well, it seems we're edging even closer to the scenario predicted in the movie Minority Report.

The National Science Foundation is soliciting grant money for predictive methods to better catch terrorist bombs and IEDs. But we're not just talking a better bomb sniffer.

The NSF is looking to craft predictive models using higher level mathmatics, nanotechnology, cutting-edge sensory equipment etc., for

The ultimate goal is to identify and isolate a threat at or before the point of device assembly and placement.

The key to prediction will be the ability to develop novel models and theoretical frameworks and to integrate data from diverse sources, which may include sensor information, psychology and sociology of terrorists, artificial intelligence, pattern recognition, and information management – areas in which NSF has long been active.

Specific topics of research may include the 1) recruitment and indoctrination of potential bombers, the detection of preparatory activities related to the planning and construction phases of bombings; 2) the detection of suspicious behaviors presaging imminent attacks, mathematical modeling of dynamic hybrid systems that include physical systems and human behavior; 3) new sensors and sensor networks that will quickly detect and predict the assembly and placement of explosive devices; 4) fully reconfigurable mechatronic stationary and mobile devices that will optimize in real-time the probability of tracking suspicious devices, substances or people; and 5) the enhanced use of available signal, image, and sensor data in decision-making and planning processes.

I'm all for saving our troops' lives in any way possible. And to a certain extent, this Orwellian methodology in predictive behavior is made palpable because its obstensibly directed at terrorism. But if such a system -- despite chaos math -- could ever successfully be developed, how much longer before its tasks are widened to include general crime fighting prevention on the U.S. soil?

It's something for discussion.....


[edit on 4-12-2006 by behindthescenes]