Researchers Use Glass Spheres To Tag And Trace Explosives
Drs. Delbert Day and Paul Worsey, at the University of Missouri-Rolla, are hoping to help law enforcement officers better identify the source of explosives by using glass microspheres as tags. Day and Worsey say that glass microspheres for tagging and tracing explosives will also help officials identify the suspects who purchased and detonated the explosives.
The professors say that using glass microspheres as tags is safer than using other materials, since tags have the potential of disrupting explosives or causing bombs to detonate early.
Worsey explains that scientists can detect and analyze the glass microspheres that are scattered when explosives are detonated to identify the source of the bombs. Day argues that identification of bombs’ sources can help law enforcement officers better identify terrorists.
The microsphere’s chemical composition acts as a signature that can provide company name, plant location, and the date of manufacture. “By controlling the chemical composition you can put this information inside the glass microsphere and only the manufacturer of the explosive has the code,” notes Day.
Following a explosive’s detonation, the tags are found scattered in the area of the explosion; the microspheres are then detected with various techniques, depending on what chemicals were added to the spheres when they were formed.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement an