After the terrible, destructive tornadoes hit across the U.S. South and Midwest the past two days, there has been frantic searching in the rubble for survivors. A new advanced radar technology could help find many more survivors much more quickly once it is ready for use after disasters. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, has developed FINDER, or Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response, which uses radar to send a microwave signal through rubble and find moving reflections. These reflections are created from victims that are still alive - even if they are not able to move or call out, just their heartbeat and their breathing can be detected, so they can be detected even if they are unconscious. The FINDER device takes about two minutes to finish searching rubble from a house, and is currently being tested with different-sized rubble and under different weather conditions. It will help aid search teams that use microphones or rescue dogs by providing technology that can detect things that they can't.
The JPL hopes that FINDER will be ready for use during the summer of this year.
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/cuttingedge-radar-to-help-save/21433489
Another article with a bit more detail and a video of how it works:
http://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-radar-device-detects-heartbeats-in-disaster-rubble/
The JPL hopes that FINDER will be ready for use during the summer of this year.
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/cuttingedge-radar-to-help-save/21433489
Another article with a bit more detail and a video of how it works:
http://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-radar-device-detects-heartbeats-in-disaster-rubble/
Researchers demonstrating the use of FINDER. Photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls