More about ‘Why Science Is Important’ with a story that is simultaneously very funny and utterly tragic. The picture below is of an ADE651™ explosives and drugs detection device. It is manufactured in Somerset by a company called ATSC Ltd and they have recently sold several (at £35,000 each) to the Iraqi government. The total order came to about £50 million and was only one of several from various governments worldwide. From their website I discovered that the devices use “ATSC’s proprietary application of electrostatic ion attraction” to perform the feat of identifying bombs or drugs from 600 metres (above ground), 5,000 metres (from the air), 30 metres (underwater) and 10m (underground). I have heard that they don’t require batteries because they are powered by the movement of the user and that they can be programmed to detect different substances by inserting a printed card into the belt pack.
So why am I writing about this marvel of British engineering? Firstly, the unit does not contain any electronics and secondly it has not been demonstrated to work any more successfully than guesswork. The Times has a good article here – look up the ideomotor effect for an explanation. It is a classic case of pseudoscience; a dowsing rod costing only a few pounds to make, being sold for tens of thousands. What a business idea!
It would be hilarious if it were not so serious. The client countries can (mostly) ill afford to spend their money on such frivolous nonsense. No western countries (apart from the Belgian police) have fallen for the scam but Iraq, Kurdistan, Lebanon, Thailand, China, India, Saudi Arabia and Jordan all have. Not only is it a waste of money but it must be jeopardising the safety of its operators. There is no way that they can work any more effectively than water dowsing, which has been repeatedly shown to be nonsense.
I am often criticised for ‘not believing in things’ – as though that is a weakness. I like poetry & literature, sci-fi and fantasy, but I don’t have to believe any of it is true. Once you believe in ghosts, or the Loch Ness monster, or the healing power of crystals, (the list is endless) you open yourself up to being scammed by ‘snake oil’ salesmen of every type. I don’t want a world without romance and adventure but I do think we would all be wise to expect some evidence before believing the random claims of others.
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