TSA CONSIDERING MIND READING SCANNERS

Daniel Tencer, Raw Story - Amid the media furor over the attempted Christmas Day attacks and a renewed political focus on enhancing airport security, attention is turning to a technological advancement that will have civil rights activists -- or, for that matter, anyone with a secret --seriously worried: Mind-reading machines. . .

An Israeli company called WeCU Technologies (as in "we see you"), is building a system that would turn airport waiting areas into arenas for Pavlovian behavioral tests: "The system . . . projects images onto airport screens, such as symbols associated with a certain terrorist group or some other image only a would-be terrorist would recognize," company CEO Ehud Givon said. The logic is that people can't help reacting, even if only subtly, to familiar images that suddenly appear in unfamiliar places. If you strolled through an airport and saw a picture of your mother, Givon explained, you couldn't help but respond.

The reaction could be a darting of the eyes, an increased heartbeat, a nervous twitch or faster breathing, he said. The WeCU system would use humans to do some of the observing but would rely mostly on hidden cameras or sensors that can detect a slight rise in body temperature and heart rate.

Homeland Security officials have long been keen on Israeli counter-terror technologies, given the country's extensive experience with terrorism and its reputation for having some of the most effective security systems in the world.