WorldViews: Iran says it has a machine that can detect a drug addict from a mile away
According to Irans state-run Mehr News Agency, Iranian scientists have developed a radar that can detect explosives, narcotics and even drug addicts from almost a mile away.
The devices inventor, Seyed Ali Hosseini, told the state news service this week that the radar tracker was designed and built to detect drugs, explosives, bodies alive and dead under the rubble, addictive drugs and alcoholic beverages.
The device could detect drug addicts from a distance of 1500 meters and determine the degree of addiction inside their bodies, reports Mehr news agency.
The article, which despite its brevity is a surreal read, quotes Hosseini, who it says works for a "knowledge-based company" explaining the science behind the enterprise:
The transmitter part consists of radio waves and radio magnets emitting waves across the earth and stimulates elements' molecular layer and releases their ions. The receiver detects ions as well as the molecular layer then transfers waves back to the target to detect their essence.
Iranian authorities like to trumpet the countrys scientific accomplishments, even when they appear more than a bit dubious.
The Islamic Republics guardians of moral probity also champion their efforts to curb drug addiction and trafficking. The country has hundreds of accused drug traffickers on death row.Iran is one of the world's leading practitioners of capital punishment; Iran, Iraq andSaudi Arabia accounted for almost 80 percent of the world's executions in 2013.
But it's not clear if this new radar will add to the ranks of alleged criminals awaiting such a fate. The article does not indicate when Hosseini's invention will be deployed for official use.
Ishaan Tharoor writes about foreign affairs for The Washington Post. He previously was a senior editor at TIME, based first in Hong Kong and later in New York.
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WorldViews: Iran says it has a machine that can detect a drug addict from a mile away