Unit OneTechnology vs. TerrorismText UnderstandingTechnology vs. TerrorismToxin sniffers*, missile jammers*, dirty-bomb detectors*：The post-911 security blitz is affecting more than public safety-its changing the course of science1.toxin sniffers: 毒素嗅探器 2.missile jammers: 导弹人为干扰发射机 3.dirty-bomb detectors: 放射性核弹探测器1 In the race * to prevent future 9/11- style attacks - or worse - Washington has marshaled the U.S. science establishment on a scale not seen since Sputnik*. Federal investment in homeland-defense research has swallowed* nearly $4 billion since 2003, and thats a mere a drop of total security spending. More important is that the accelerated spending has brought together* formerly disparate disciplines: Software engineers, epidemiologists and biologists have teamed up* to produce technologies that protect air and food against bioterrorism. Nuclear physicists and bioterrorism specialists now cooperate with the best brains in behavioral science to devise ways to reduce the threat of nuclear smuggling and suicide bombers.2 Yet some experts argue that much of the big spending provides only an illusory sense of security. “A lot of it is security theater technology designed to make you feel better, ” says Bruce Schneier, author of Beyond Fear：Thinking Sensibly about Security in an Uncertain World *. He points to high-tech protection poured into landmarks*, from the White House to local city halls,that he claims diverts terrorist attention to “softer” targets like subways and stadiums. But the government seems to have taken the point. Its ever-expanding homeland-security measures cover not just big targets but the nations broader vulnerabilities as well. Here are five of the highest -risk areas, along with some of the technologies emerging over the next few years to defend them.Soft target (受攻击目标)is a military term referring to unarmored/undefended targets needing to be destroyed. hard targetAir, Water, Food Supplies3 One of the biggest challenges in this area is to develop sensors that can sniff out attacks on everything from crops in fields to air-conditioning systems in public spaces.the Environmental Protection Agency, in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has deployed a network of miniature toxin detectors in 30 American cities as part of a $ 300-million program called BioWatch. The filters collect air-borne toxins, which are sent to laboratories for analysis. 4 Scientists at Lawrence Livemore National Laboratory have pushed this idea further with their Autonomous Pathogen* Detection System, or APDS. Inspired by the 1995 Sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subway. APDS can identify chemicals and biotoxins without requiring researchers to gather daily samplings and wait for readouts.1. pathogen n.病原体Hooked to the ventilation system of a mall, train station or other gathering place, APDS can perform 178 separate samplings of air over a week without human intervention and relay its findings wirelessly to a central lab. Its been tested in New York City and could debut in other urban areas by 2008. Borders, infrastructure 5 Since 2004, some 60 million visitors to the U.S. have had their two index fingerprints recorded by an optical scanner that checks the information against a watch list in Washington。 D. C. The $ 1.5-billion U.S.-VISIT biometrics* program has identified 1,100 people trying to enter the country under false pretenses* and more than 20,000 would-be entrants with questionable backgrounds. 1. biometrics n. 生物计量（统计）学 2. pretense n. pretext借口 6 As the archive* of visa applicants balloons*, scans of all 10 fingers will provide more fail-safe* identifications. Systems may also employ iris* scans and voiceprints*. 1. archive n.档案 2. balloon vi. to swell or increase rapidly in size激增, 膨胀 3. fail-safe adj. safe from failure保证不会失败的；自动防止 故障危害的 4. iris n.（眼球的）虹膜 5. voiceprint n.声纹，声印（用仪器对人的说话声所做的等高 线记录，声纹因人而异，犹如指纹）In the meantime, at 100 ports and border points, a truck-mounted scanner called VACIS(Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System), designed by Science Applications International Corporation, gives customs inspectors a tool to probe the innards* of trucks and cargo containers without prying them open.1. innards n.内部VACIS uses low-energy gamma rays that penetrate even lead-lined boxes to produce grainy images in as little as six seconds. If the operator detects objects that dont match whats listed on a shipping manifest*, the container can be shunted* off for inspection. 1. manifest n. a list of goods carried, esp. on a ship载货清 单（尤指船载） 2. shunt vt. to (cause to) go to one side, off course.（使） 被搁置一侧 7 Also in development are micron*-size sensors - known as “smart dust” or “motes” that can be sprinkled around pipelines, unguarded borders and utility plants to monitor intrusions or the release of biological aerosols*, c