NASA tech finds disaster survivors

Posted by admin on Sep 22, 2014 at 8:32 am America/Chicago

Each time your heart beats, your entire body moves -- even if you're unconscious and pinned under a pile of rubble. The vibrations are small, invisible to the human eye, and might just save your life after a major disaster. Researchers at NASA have developed a device that picks up these subtle movements through up to 40 feet of debris. Called FINDER (Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response), the tool was developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to help rescue crews find survivors quickly in a major disaster. After a disaster, there's a limited window of time to find trapped survivors. FINDER makes the process more efficient. It uses a low power radio signal to detect motion. Each movement caused by a heartbeat is like a "twinkle" reflecting back to the radar. What makes the system especially smart is software that can cut through all other movements and pinpoint which vibrations are signs of life. The system looks just for the signals that match human heartbeats, filtering out slower movements like tree branches in the wind, and faster ones like the heartbeat of a rat. It takes about five minutes to learn how to use FINDER and just a few minutes to set up. The device fits into a case small enough to carry on a plane. Hit the "Search" button and 30 seconds later a Web page appears on the FINDER laptop, which shows how many heartbeats it's found in a 100 foot radius. Check out more information at cnn.com