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Terahertz opaque clothing

Thwarting TSA THz voyeurism
  (+11, -1)(+11, -1)
(+11, -1)
  [vote for,
against]

Tired of security guards getting a free peep show every time you fly? Well, fear no more! Simply don a set of clothing made with pigments opaque to the terahertz spectrum, and your privacy is saved.

Choose from various styles ranging from head to toe coverage, undergarments only, or a few choice words printed on a t-shirt.

Aq_Bi, Jan 20 2010

Xray-visible advertisements Xray-visible_20advertisements
[Loris, Jan 21 2010]

Now baked http://www.theregis...23/anti_tsa_undies/
...claim your free cookie. [Loris, Nov 23 2010]

[link]






       Oscar Bravo, are you there?
##Yes, sergeant, go ahead.##
The scanner isn't picking up one of our passengers
##Does the scanner show up an opaque image?
Yes. Just a solid block - we can't see any detail
##You know what to do, sergeant... proceed.
Affirmative. Over.
  

       Excuse me sir. Please walk this way...
<thwack! of latex goves>
Jinbish, Jan 20 2010
  

       These pigments are?
MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 20 2010
  

       How 'bout getting clothes with eldritch messages etched into the fabric, thereby reducing the security guards to babbling husks?
DrWorm, Jan 20 2010
  

       A pigment of his imagination.
Mustardface, Jan 21 2010
  

       Isn't that what "The Man Who Fell To Earth" looked like?
Dub, Jan 21 2010
  

       Couldn't you just wrap yourself in aluminum foil? I can't imagine anything more comfortable on an 8 hour flight.   

       Seriously, if you reintroduced this as just an idea for underwear, then I might bun. Certainly for women that would be intrusive enough for safety, but basically modest, it would be like hiding a gun in a bikini. If you did it for men's boxers, then I can see how that would be suspicious, as there is some room for hidden objects, so only tight fitting garments, unless these things are checking internal areas. I am really not up on this topic.
MisterQED, Jan 21 2010
  

       Not sure about this - for the security obstacle that [Jinbish] highlights. I can, however, see a market for terahertz-sensitive underwear (for men) which makes you look better-endowed than you are...
hippo, Jan 21 2010
  

       A bit like the adverts for X-ray machine operator idea (linked), now applicable to clothing as well as luggage.   

       I'd like my T-shirt to say something to the operator, perhaps:
'If you can read this you are too close to a police state'
Loris, Jan 21 2010
  

       How about a pattern of loose squares, so when you're scanned you appear pixelated?
phoenix, Jan 21 2010
  

       Bun for [Loris]'s anno.
coprocephalous, Jan 21 2010
  

       //like hiding a gun in a bikini.// There's something you should be aware of, QED...
MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 22 2010
  

       Some of us have secrets, [21 Quest]...
Aq_Bi, Jan 22 2010
  

       //If the guards can't see through it, they're just going to make you take it off to see what you're trying to hide. You'll end up drawing more attention and humiliation to yourself than if you'd simply complied with the regulation.// Seriously? Let's say there are no scanners and I simply walked thru security wearing a banana hammock or what ever those silly euro male swimsuits are called, don't you think that is enough? What could I be hiding? If it is small enough to hide in one of those, couldn't I hide it someplace else that the machines don't see into?   

       Since starting this discussion I've looked at a few articles and yes, they see you naked. Generally, I am with you and am "reasonably" accepting of people seeing me naked, but let me tell you MY WIFE IS NOT. I cannot state that emphatically enough. She doesn't like me seeing her naked. Also let me restate what others have mentioned, these scans WILL be published somewhere. The pitiful security guards working at airports are stupid enough to do stuff like forget to turn on a metal detector and accost a elderly man because he is carrying a suspicious looking Congressional Medal of Honor, are also not smart enough to stop some paparazzi from going undercover to get pictures of famous people naked, that any medium talent PhotoShopper can turn into realistic pictures of them naked.   

       Oh and if you want to defeat this and impress the people at the scanner, I'm sure a sex shop will sell you a "cosmetic device" with a little storage space inside.
MisterQED, Jan 23 2010
  

       Coming back to the idea, I'd suspect that any material suitable to block terahertz spectrum analysis would be uncomfortably heavy.
RayfordSteele, Jan 23 2010
  

       From what I've read, any conductive material is opaque to the THz spectrum. Some testing will have to be done, but I suspect aluminum powder pigments, thin wires woven into the material, or maybe even aluminized mylar would work. There's a good possibility many conventional pigments are opaque as well, but simply haven't been tested.
Aq_Bi, Jan 23 2010
  

       This is why contemporary society desperately needs eunuchs.
rcarty, Jan 23 2010
  

       "I repeat: If the guards can't see through it, they're just going to make you take it off to see what you're trying to hide."
Referring to them as "guards", I guess [21 Quest]'s programming is complete.
phoenix, Jan 24 2010
  

       Some of contemporary society desperately needs euthanized, or at least eunusized.
RayfordSteele, Jan 24 2010
  

       I'm solidly with [21] on this. If you don't like it, don't travel by plane. I do think, however, that combat arms soldiers should have the opportunity to be awarded some sort of extra skill identifier that would allow them to retain thier privately owned weapons when flying.
MikeD, Nov 24 2010
  

       // I do think, however, that combat arms soldiers should have the opportunity to be awarded some sort of extra skill identifier that would allow them to retain thier privately owned weapons when flying.//   

       Yeah, 'cos soldiers never start shooting civilians or become terrorists.   

       Oh, wait.
Loris, Nov 25 2010
  

       // pigments opaque to the terahertz spectrum //   

       And what are those?   

       Any garment capable of preserving modesty is capable of hiding a weapon of some sort. Maybe, just maybe, an opaque set of skin-tight undies could pass, and keep a few semi-modest folks happy. But without some mention of which pigments, a radio-opaque bone.
baconbrain, Nov 26 2010
  

       //And what are those?//
tungsten is suitable. See my link.
  

       Considering that the system doesn't actually prevent people carrying weapons[1], theoretically modesty-preserving clothes don't decrease security - the scanning system isn't fit for purpose.   

       [1] I saw a demonstration of this where a guy passed through the scanner, then assembled... a gun (IIRC), using components stashed in various crevices.
Loris, Nov 27 2010
  
      
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