New Bomb-Detecting Ink Could Thwart Terrorists Restrictions on
the amount of liquid allowed on airplanes departing from the
United States could become a thing of the past, thanks to a new
material that can detect small amounts of an explosive commonly
used by terrorists. Made of tiny metal-oxide particles mixed
into an ink, the new material starts out blue and turns
yellowish or clear when it contacts peroxide-based explosives,
which have been used in the past by terrorists, in particular
the 2005 London subway bombings. These explosives were also used
by the thwarted "shoe bomber," who tried to detonate this
substance onboard an airplane in 2001. "The main problem here
are these improvised explosives, especially peroxide-based
explosives, which can be synthesized using ingredients available
at your local grocery store, and the recipe for these are
available on the Internet," said Shoaib Shaikh, co-founder and
CEO of XploSafe, a startup company created to commercialize the
ink technology. "The terrorists favo