New Fingerprint Technology Developed
New Fingerprint Technology Developed
Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists are using a new technique to see fingerprints on surfaces that typically make them invisible.
The method uses a technology called mini-X-ray fluorescence to detect chemical elements in fingerprints without altering them, said Christopher Worley, a scientist on the project.
"The conventional methods are meant to bring out fingerprint patterns with regular light and they have to treat those with powder, which alters them," Worley said. "With this you don"t have to alter it or treat it at all. We can determine the elements in a fingerprint and get a pattern at the same time."
The technology focuses a tight beam of X-rays on surfaces with fingerprints and creates a computer picture out of those scans.
The equipment costs about $175,000.
For big labs, the method could be a great way to bring out prints that can"t be seen any other way, said Vahid Majidi, another lab scientist.
"The technique fills a unique niche," Majidi said. "These are prints that would otherwise be useless. If you have prints on a dark surface, for example, they really don"t develop well using normal techniques. If you have prints from an adolescent or child, the chemicals in the fingertips are different and don"t stick around long enough for traditional methods."
The new method might also be able to tell if the person that left them handled certain types of bomb-making materials, said George Havrilla, another lab scientist.
"This is a new approach to fingerprint visualization," Havrilla said. "We"re lifting prints, but instead of looking at the finger"s natural oils and organic residues we"re looking at elemental features left behind."
The technology for scanning the prints is widely available. What"s new is the method the lab has created to see them which includes computer software and ways of manipulating the machinery, Worley said.
But the technique isn"t for everyone.
"We"ve already had some negative comments on it," Havrilla said with a laugh. "One reviewer told us it"s just not practical. But the goal of our work was to demonstrate that it was feasible to see these things."
美國洛斯阿拉莫斯國家實驗室的科學家們採用了一種新技術，可以觀察到原本很難在物體表面上看見的指紋。
參與該科研專案的科學家克里斯托弗·沃爾利說，該方法使用了一種“微X射線束熒光技術”，可以探測到指紋攜帶的化學成分，卻不會改變指紋的儲存狀態。
沃爾利說：“傳統的方法是通過常規光線使指紋顯示出來，而且要藉助粉末等物質，這會改變指紋儲存狀況。有了這種新方法，你根本用不著改變或處理指紋了，我們可以測定指紋所含的化學成分，同時獲取指紋圖案。”
這項技術將一束密集的X光對準留有指紋的物體表面，並根據掃描結果創建出計算機影象。
這套裝置造價17.5萬美元。
該實驗室的另一位科學家瓦希德·馬吉德表示，對那些大實驗室來說，這是獲取用其他方法看不到的印跡的最好方法。
馬吉德說：“這項技術填補了一項空缺。如果沒有這項技術，某些印跡就會變得毫無意義。比如說，如果是深色表面上的指紋，普通技術確實無法精確地探測到它們;如果是青少年或小孩的指紋，他們的指尖留下的化學成分(和成人)是不同的，而且這些指紋附著在物體表面的時間並不久，因此不適宜使用傳統的分析方法。”
該實驗室的另一位科學家喬治·豪夫裡洛表示，這種新技術也許還能檢測出指紋所有者是否觸控過某些型別的'炸彈製造材料。
豪夫裡洛說：“這是清晰顯示指紋的一種新途徑。我們查詢印跡時不再只觀察手指分泌的油脂和殘留有機物，而是專注於其背後隱藏的特殊化學成分。”
沃爾利指出，掃描印跡的技術目前已被廣泛採用。該實驗室發明的這種新型指紋探測法的創新之處在於它包含了計算機軟體技術和機器操作方法。
但是這一技術也並非眾人皆宜。
豪夫裡洛笑著說：“我們已經收到了一些負面評論。一位批評者對我們說它壓根不實用。但我們工作的目標是證明這種技術是切實可行的。”
Vocabulary:
fluorescence: the emission of electromagnetic radiation, especially of visible light, stimulated in a substance by the absorption of incident radiation and persisting only as long as the stimulating radiation is continued(熒光，尤指可見光等電磁輻射的散光)
niche: a special area of demand for a product or service(適當的位置，產品或服務所需的特殊領域)
stick around: 逗留
residue: the remainder of something after removal of parts or a part(殘留物)
