At 06:26 PM 7/10/00 -0400, John Young wrote:
>The story says that the outer layer of human skin is completely
>shed and replaced every one or two days, and the flakes rise
>on warm air of the body in a plume that can be captured by
>the device for sampling. The flakes would carry evidence of
>whatever is on the body or has been on it recently.
>
>It is not clear if each human could be identified by its unique
>who-is flakes, of a particular algorithm, pattern, odor, hue, stench,
>malice, hopes, dreams, lies, coitus inanimus.
Aren't search dogs existence proofs that we each have our own
chem signatures? You could teach a bloodhound to recognize
a person's odor, and it may be harder to conceal than a face,
the other non-contact signature. A dog on a chip, coming to
a brave new world near you.
>Could flakes be faked, substituted, peddled, sealed against shed?
>How to beat the device when your mate says step over here
>sumbitch.
That's why cypherpunks pass around a bowl with hair (and dandruff) samples.
Give a little, take a little.
Sealing wouldn't work, animals are too grubby, short of a chemical
protection suit & mask. Best to send a little-travelled recruit instead
of the guy who's probably on the List. Best if the recruit were not
a close relative of anyone on the List (just for chemical-similarity
reasons, as well as general people-tracking intel.)
I'm looking forward to solid-state chemical analyzers in public urinals
wired up to the DoJ.
Without chemicals, life itself would be impossible.
.......
The navy has done some research on artificial noses, too; I figured
for following sub plumes.
