Just a quick PSA. Not all airports have changed policy to allow water/liquids. I got the water through in Shannon airport in Ireland. Check your local airports policy before trying
A lot of the airports (not only big ones) have a small bottle check machines. It's easier for them to not use it, but if you ask politely or have some medical reasons - they'll do it. I've seen those in Prague, Bratislava and Moscow.
I’m surprised the TSA agents at pre-clearance in Shannon actually bothered doing any xraying, last time I flew to the US out of Dublin the TSA agents at pre-clearance were just waving everyone through without checking anything other than boarding pass
@@patrickmartin3322 Well, going through airport security twice is a bit of a ridiculous thing to require. I get waved through in Dublin most of the time too. There is absolutely zero reason the TSA can't just trust the DAA to do their job. Having to show up 3 hours early because you have to go through 2 security lines is just a ball ache
We have them in Amsterdam for a few years now. Always feels like a letdown when flying back home and you forgot to take your laptop out of your bag on an older airport
I was recently in Japan traveling through the domestic terminal at Narita and they allowed me to bring my water though. They didn't have these machines tho, the solution was quite a bit more simple. the person working just asked me to take a swig from the bottle to make sure it was water!
I always wondered why they didn't just do this. They made me throw out a red bull once. So I chugged as much as I could stand before hopping on a plane. Probably one of my worst ideas ever, btw. 😂
My favorite part about the new security tech is never knowing which airports have it and which don’t, so at one airport you get scolded for taking laptops and liquids out of your bag, and at another airport you’ll get yelled at for not taking them out 🙃
@@RedHotBagel Until some bitchy, useless TSA agent arbitrarily changes the rules just to fuck with you. Which isn't rare because they are petty tyrants that couldn't become real cops but love abusing their power just as much.
I worked an internship at the UK parliament and my first couple of weeks before I got my pass I had to go through security to be picked up. I developed a method of sticking everything I could except for belt inside my jacket so I could put that in the tray, walk through, grab jacket and go without the fiddling. Which has worked ever since except for the odd occasion where I do all that then get told "sir! Jackets on please! Only loose items in the tray." So then you look like an idiot.
@@RedHotBagel Then there are the ones with multiple signs telling you to take out your laptop and water only to tell you at the end to put them back in (looking at you Milan)
My favorite TSA story: my father was an airline pilot during 9/11. A few months after the new "safe" TSA security checks were implementer he lost his small travel bag, so he grabbed another small bag from his closet, threw in some toiletries and went to work. SIX MONTHS LATER he found his original bag, and when he dumped the contents out of his "temporary" bag there were two small boxes of 9mm ammo! So for 6 months he had been going through the newly minted TSA security screenings, at least 6 times a week, with 50 rounds of ammo, and was never caught.
I was part of the first batch of TSA screeners in my home town, and I can say your story tracks. While there were plenty of intelligent people who worked for the TSA (I'd like to think I was one of them), there were a large amount of people who were hired because they were struggling to find work for a variety of reasons, many of which were personality and ethics related. Things often got missed. We would have trainings where security failures from other airports were shared with us... some of those failures included fully loaded firearms being missed on the x-ray... which is something that most people could have seen without any training at all. Complicating the issue, the terrorists behind 9/11 used items which the FAA allowed on flights. After 9/11, the government stepped in and fired all of the private contractors, many of which had years of qualified experience, and hired largely a brand new screening force. While some private screeners migrated over to the TSA, many screeners opted not to since it would have resulted in a cut in pay. A more rational, less expensive and far more effective approach would have been to simply tighten the security already in place, and implement new trainings with existing staff. The irony here is that while your father traveled with 50 rounds of ammunition, there were plenty of old ladies who had fingernail scissors thrown away. Finally, I always thought it was funny that we even had to screen the pilots to the degree we had... if a pilot had bad intentions, they hardly needed a knife or a gun to follow through.
@@jaybravo2199 my father passed away a few years ago, but I heard him yelling from beyond when I read your last paragraph - nothing agravated him more than getting screened "like the rest of the cattle" he'd say, lol. Of course, if he reasoned with the agent, "I'm the pilot, I don't need a weapon to crash the plane" he would have been tackled and handcuffed.
Real Engineering: here are some papers, equations, graphs and tables explaining exactly how these machines work Half as Interesting: "So I sent my outside correspondant Amy through airport security with two kitchen knives, a bomb, and a water bottle filled with gasoline"
Beware if travelling with film! These machines will usually wreck it, put your film in a plastic bag and ask a member of staff to hand check it for you instead.
Is it though bacause i had my film camera with me and they wouldn`t let me skip the scanning for it and i thought ok all my photos will be ruined but they turned out just fine, no quality loss or anything.
You briefly mentioned how it's "not a lab" but a real, physical area. This is much more important than the short comment makes it sound. I work with a guy who pioneered these detectors and he told me once an entire airport had to shut down because the bag scanners stopped working. Turns out the fine jet fuel soot covered the electronics and caused shorts. Maybe that should have been anticipated, but it's an important engineering lesson that no plan survives first contact with the enemy.
"Entropy always wins." That simple fact made ma a lot of money as an Electrician. Basically, we channel and direct entropy to where the work needs to be done.
Moral of the story might also be to roll out new technology slowly (IE don't replace every scanner in your airport at once) so that you can go back to the old method if the new one sucks.
@@jozef_chocholacek Last time we tested them they caught 3% of the dangerous objects, it's not the x-ray scanner to blame by the way it was when they had the newer scanner tech.
@@jozef_chocholacek Did you know that "theater" is a HUGE part of security? The guy who made the term popular is a security guru but fails miserably to explain that. Same reason why a fake CCTV camera does better than nothing. It's why a Master Lock is generally enough to deter a potential criminal.
I just wish there was an easy way to distinguish between a drink and an explosive. Something that could be done right at the spot. Like, say, drinking from that damn bottle!
I am a part of a research group that uses x-ray diffraction crystalography and other high-energy optical spectra techniques. While its not quite the same, it was cool seeing the theory behind my day to day making it into a video!
Hehe, my favourite was when Disney opened their Star Wars land and retail bottles of coke that were oddly shaped were all of a sudden a massive security problem. Keep everyone distracted
Watched a guy try to pass his old tool bag full of tools through….. whined that he came to fix his parents house and was going to home to AZ. Told to send as baggage. They escorted him to the baggage counter. That’s the last I saw of him. TSA wins everytime.
My mom used to fly a lot for work. One time she accidentally dropped her phone in the toilet and put it in a bag of rice to soak out the water. Security had a field day with it xD
I once sent through my backpack, it had my clarinet in it and a bunch of charging cables. Turns out on the monitor, that looks like a bunch of cylinders wrapped in wire -- exactly like a cartoon bundle of TNT...
As a first time flyer, it was very confusing going from one airport security to another and having completely different procedures. Remove everything at the first, and nothing at the next. Water out, then forgot it in my metal water bottle in the next and wasn’t flagged. I had no idea different scanners were part of that difference. Glad to see improvements though with how many small things I had in my bag. Unloading it was a massive pain
Nothing is ever the same in airport screening, even when there are guidelines listing the requirements for a given screening entity. Checkpoint A can have different requirements to Checkpoint B. Even though both checkpoints are 100 meters apart in the same terminal operated by the same company.
My experience has been that water is allowed into the airport checked in area, where its usually a mall like environment. Its banned at the checkpoint leading to the actual gates.
In the US security procedures are uniform, but their enforcement may not be. Abroad things are very different. If you are a novice flyer in the US, you’re going to be in the regular security line. This currently means laptops out, shoes off, and going through a full body scanner. In Precheck you keep shoes on and laptops in and go through a metal detector. In both lanes liquids must be in
@viceice not really. It's not supposed to be taken through security. Once through security you can buy anything sold at the airport and take it through the gates onto the plane. There are airports that sell liquor, you could go by a bottle and take it with you in the cabin, you just couldn't drink it on the plane. Though I flew recently and only realized when I got home I had flown with a full bottle of water and had managed to get it through security and customs. So it just depends on the place if you can take it through security but I've never heard of anyone being asked to throw their drink away before boarding. Not sure why you would think it's banned
I've just been last weekend to Berlin Branderburg Airport BER and it was my first time seeing one of those smiths security scanners. I was so confused why we wouldnt have to take out laptops or water out anymore, and wanted to search for this new technology, but didnt find anything. Now i stumbled upon this video, and it makes a lot more sense. I just think that as it is right now, not everyone sees the signs of taking out laptops, water etc, so this will take longer. (I was travelling in a group of 70 people and quite a lot of them just took out their laptops and emptied their bottles out of routine.) But when everyone knows those new scanners, it could be really time and nerves saving for everyone. Great Vid!
I was about to correct you about "hasn't flow for the past 20 years left their laptop in their bag" (0:41), because it has only been the case for a few years, since 9/11 to be exact. Then I realized how old I got and that I'm still living in the early 2000s in my head...
"since 9/11" - I remember the Before-Time. In the 90s I did a lot of practical work, and carried a pocket-knife [Victorinox] on my key-chain and habitually hung it out of my pocket and my keys in to reduce the bulk in my pocket, and coz it was easier to grab [also had a quick-release]. I got to the scanner [1999] and put various things on the belt, and the man said, "And the Knife." Yep, Scan that, Make sure it's a Knife, for my plane-trip. [Of interest, I just checked my local rules, and a S.A.K. is still OK to "carry" in public for it's normal practical purpose - But Anything Large or Locking; No Fucking Way - And they do metal-detecting these days at Public-Transit, and the Night-Club district]
Went through Stockholm ARN recently and I read several signs saying “leave everything in your bag” thinking it can’t possibly be true, but I was wrong. I guess that’s one more thing to put on the “in the olden days…” bag for the generations to come
My friend used to be a guy who's job was to test TSA. They missed like 95% of bad shit he would sneak through. It's a waste of money letting them still exist
@@uristmcary Yes and it makes people more complacent since the area is supposed to be secure and safe. Regular people aren't looking for threats nor are they willing to neutralize them. You should not have to forgo privacy and bodily autonomy in order to travel. As Benjamin Franklin warned, we have traded essential liberty for temporary safety and now deserve neither.
The water thing is probably more of a financial thing - if I can open the bottle and drink it without dying in front of TSA, then it must surely be water. If you think about it, all these lithium powered devices we carry make for much better explosives, and yet they are allowed on every flight (well aware of the energy restriction). With a burning temperature of 2000 Degrees Celsius, what's stopping someone from using a couple of electronic devices in conjunction to do terrible damage? The fumes alone are deadly already... We've got to rethink our airport and plane security in general. The current measures, reliable as they are, remain more of a show than actual security. Anyone with serious intent can find their way around it, its all far too fragile of a system. Other than that, great video as always :)
My last flight crews verbally forbid charging of vapes during the flight and I would love to hear the contingency plan they have for a thermal runaway device in the cabin.
While watching this, I'm already working on getting around it... and I have zero intent or desire. Just a fun thing to think about. The fact is, perfect security doesn't exist.
@@godlugner5327They've got bags rated to contain lipo battery fires for batteries under a certain capacity, which is also why there's a limit to how large your batteries can be.
At (Amsterdam Airport) Schiphol we’ve had these machines for years now! It’s amazing! It’s always so frustrating when the return flight leaves from an airport with older machines, and you’ve to throw away stuff I had with me on the way there, not to mention the time it takes to take out all liquids, laptops etc
Also, each element has jumps in X-ray absorption in different places, so if you really want to isolate a certain element, you can X-ray it once a little below and once a little above and the difference shows you that element (e.g. iron has a jump in absorption at 7.1 keV, so 6.7 keV and 7.5 keV). That way you can find and confiscate all the steel nail clippers hiding among a bunch of loose change, to keep everyone "safe."
Low Z elements have k-edges way too low to detect. A 7 keV photon will be attenuated by a few micrometers of iron/a few mm of water. Mammography operate at 30 kVp, medical CT at 120, and industrial CT:s at several hundred (since they need to image dense metals).
The TSA in America purchased $700 million of these new machines by Analogic called the conneCT. THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE! They constantly crash and require restarts, are extremely slow, and agents hate them with a passion. I work in aviation, ever since we switched to these awful pieces of garbage lines have doubled at my airport. Smith Machines are featured here and work as expected, but the round white and blue Analogics will ADD anywhere from 10-40 minutes to your security wait. You know it’s bad when I hear TSA agents talk bad about the machines.
My airport currently has multiple x-rays not in use because something has happened to them. Then, the ones that are working go down constantly because they are used so much. I would rather use the old 2D AT smiths than the analogics. Just because of the fact they worked... literally a hat falling out of a bin will fault the analogic but not the smiths.
@@jjbboxbulbasaur6183 US government spent $700 million on garbage machines, apart from sending foreign countries billions in cash. I’m just so very tired of America and its incompetent corruption. I wouldn’t even mind if it was competent corruption, but alas, we have brain dead president with a cabinet full of diversity hires and cronies. Gasoline in my area just went up .60¢ to $4.90. It’s supposed to go up to $6 by summer…..
Me: Taking my laptop out of my bag TSA Agent: “Leave your laptop in your bag.” Me: Bluesceens… “I leave it in?” TSA Agent: “Don’t take it out. Leave it in the bag.” Me: “Okay…”
they are def getting way better at their stuff and honestly the more they blend into the background, the more i get the feeling it's not just security theater anymore and that they're actually caring. (they got railed _hard_ by congress for pure security theater crap shortly before these changes started getting in the pipeline, so i would not be surprised if that helped kickstart this change.)
I used to fly Manchester UK > Dulles > Manchester UK regularly. @ Dulles, walking towards the line you could tell whether it was laptop out / belt off by how busy they were. Terrorists hate queues too apparently.
I'm just happy I don't have to go to the airport 2 hours ahead. It's been refreshing to show up 30 minutes before boarding starts and still make it in time.
I still show up over an hour early, you never know what kind of events can drastically increase tsa times. For example, I live in Texas and had to travel for work a day after the eclipse. My flight was leaving at 6am so I show up a little before 5am thinking it would be a ghost town that early. I of course forgot everyone traveled to Texas for the eclipse. The tsa line was 45 minutes long and growing longer by the minute. I barely made it to my flight. Always show up really early, you never know what might hold you up.
I recently went on a trip to see the eclipse and as I don't travel much I was surprised when at SEA they told me to stop unpacking my bag and to just leave it. Getting a glimpse of the screen made it very clear it was some type of high-resolution CT scan compared to a traditional x-ray but it's really interesting to hear about the details about the dual energy part and how the materials are identified and differentiated! Huge time saver and reduction of stress, especially combined with spot saver programs where you can schedule a time to enter a priority check queue!
The first I heard about these was actually warnings to travelling film photographers about how they can fog film (plain X-ray machines these days are low dose enough that you can get away with sticking most film through them, but these devices, just like medical CT scanners, use a lot more radiation than their 2D counterparts)
Ahhh, CT scanners. I shoot pictures on analog film, and if you put that through these the rolls get fucked. Gotta ask them to check the rolls by hand, and everyone in line behind me gives me dirty looks
@@kenbrown2808Some key points here - film is seeing a modern day comeback to the point that new film camera manufacturers are starting production and Kodak is reintroducing discontinued film stock, and most film is resistant enough to x-rays that you could get away with the standard 2D machines, at least the relatively modern ones, while the CT scanners use much higher doses to work.
I love that you are the exact same type of nerd that I am, and ask questions about things most folk don't even think about. Keep the videos coming, love the content!
That whole image is a blender reconstruction of a Smiths Detection HI-SCAN 6040 CTiX Cabin Baggage Screening machine. Look at the baggage in the next frame and the background with the shipping crates which have Real Engineering logos on them.
You are so right about seasoned travelers knowing about faster x-rays lol I used to get upset when they were all down and only the old ones were in use
as a photographer who primarily shoots with film, these scanners are terrible, the old scanners would only fry film above 800 ISO (very light sensitive) not anymore, any film that goes through the new ones will be completely wrecked. and yes I could (and do) ask for a hand check, but more often then not I've been told to put it through the scanner or fuckoff, that has been relatively fine as I shoot film under 800ISO most of the time but now... I hope they keep at least a few of the old ones
I'm, ship your film to/from your destination? This isn't rocket science. I'm a weirdo in different ways, but you can't expect normie-optimised systems to care about you 🤷♀️
@@halfsourlizard9319 yes, that is true, until they lose your memories/work, I've shipped film once, thankfully it was just unexposed, so all I lost was money, but ya, they lost my package the risk is too high to ship exposed rolls. I'm not saying remove all the new CT scanners, they are as the video shows, brilliant for people who aren't bringing film, but I just hope they keep at least one "sensitive materials" line!
I recently was able to send my bag through one of these machines. It was pretty cool not having to go through the hassle of unpacking everything. The TSA still couldn't let the chance to feel me up afterwards pass by. I noticed they were doing the same to an older gentleman after I stepped away and was putting my shoes on. They felt up a lot of genitals that day and I don't think they caught a single terrorist. Security theater gonna security theater
@@macgeek2004 Nah, I went through the scanner. Everyone I saw that got felt up went through. They'll grope you if they feel like it, even when you do what they ask.
Awh man you still need to take off your shoes? European airport here, we don't have to (unless hitop boots) and didn't have to take out electronics for many years!!
I work for Smiths in Germany! It's honestly such cool tech and cool to see some coverage on UA-cam :) the diffraction scanner you were talking about launched last week (if anyone is curious it's the SDX 10080 XDi, there's a video of how that works on UA-cam as well)
I live in the UK and going through security is a PITA. I am an electronics engineer so tend to carry a lot of hardware with me and 9/10 times I go through I get stopped. Germany on the other hand is a cinch. I go through Munich reasonably regularly and very rarely get stopped and don't have to take my laptop out of my bag either.
This is good timing for me as I flew out of Milan Malpensa Airport and I realized in line that I had 2 half drank water bottles and 2 Powerade bottles in my backpack. So I chucked one water and didn’t find a garbage to trash the other liquid. The security agent told me it didn’t matter and somehow my other bag got additional search (for my toiletry bag) while my backpack with the liquids didn’t require any extra search
and by security we actually mean security theater as all the security agencies have shown they can and do regularly send teams through with contraband without the slightest issue.
These are the kinds of videos I love! Someone who is curious about something and passionately shares what they found. I learned so much from this video! Thank you!
The real security is never seen. The display we endure is for show (and why they spend so much money on it is curious) but behind the scenes - from checked bags to passenger manifests to airport contractor crewing - there is security work done.
The public is not told about all of the terrorists caught as they don't want to cause panic. Attacks are thwarted on a daily basis. The fact that we can be so ignorant about it shows that it's working.
And why have they never caught a terrorist since we've had hightened security in place? Are you saying terrorists are getting through security and then suddenly deciding not to do anything once on the plane? Think beyond 2 dimensions.
You can't imagine how much I smiled when the fast lines opened up in Munich with the new scanners. I noticed the queue with these new "Smiths detection" machines was much faster, so I went for it. I noticed people weren't taking out anything out of their bags. When it was my turn, I asked: "Do I have to take stuff like laptops and headphones out?" and to my surprise the security guy said no. I felt so good! I had just been through security (that normally takes an hour, or more) in 12 minutes. And it's not like it was a slow day at the airport, this was around Easter! I used to arrive at the airport 2 hours before my flight with the old scanners. Now I still arrive 1 hour before my flight at the airport and I usually have a good 45 minutes of free time. 10-15 for security, no ID checks, because Shengen. I love it! Traveling around Europe became faster and more enjoyable.
I remember a few years ago I managed to bring 500ml water bottle through Schipol security, I was confused why it was allowed but I don't care at the time because I have extra water on a long flight. Now it all make sense.
Security theater. My friend accidentally brought a Bowie knife in her carryon and no one caught it because she’s a super cute blonde in her 20s and they were flirting with her. As long as they hire people who couldn’t get hired at Starbucks, TSA will never be actual security. No one is going to blow up a plane with a liquid explosive.
social engineering is powerful. i've heard of people breaching even big corporate security and entering controlled-access areas just bc they look like a contractor and are carrying a metal clipboard. even the highest security stuff, like military base security, can fall victim to social engineering.
Sometime after 911, maybe 2005 or 2006, they did catch some guys that had been planning to use liquid explosives on planes..... I was like 19 or so then, but I think that was about the same time they put the restrictions on liquids.
@@JoseLopez-hp5oo Yeah it was around that same time the they caught that guy with them in his shoes... But I think the liquid stuff was a cell that they caught before they could implement. I may be mis-remembering thing tho.
I just watched that video too. I have a masters degree in medical image processing, so the immediate first thing I thought of when I saw both these videos was "dude, thats spectral ct" lol Funny how both these videos came out so close to one another
Cause the "emmiter" and "reader" of his machine is stationary and is the object that moves, and it changes the focus. with each object. The airport ones have an easyer job, because the position and focus of the object is alwways the same (the tray). And the emiter and reader revolves arround it. Les variables, easyer job, thus faster.
@@javipaniagua2942It also doesn't need sub millimeter accuracy to get the shape and density of pretty much everything in a bag. TSA isn't inspecting solder joints on your VR headsets, but they'll see your dildos and clothes just fine
It's also doing much less detail to begin with. The one LTT have is for verifying an individual M1 screw is properly in place, or that SMD solder joints are good, while this one just wants to know roughly what an object is. LTT's is probably just as fast for the same level of detail
I haven't travelled much, but the best airport security clearance I have experienced is at Schiphol, Amsterdam. So quick and totally hassle free! The designers & technology partners did a grand job there. It feels like a friendly neighborhood place. ❤ it.
Problem that I hate is prices of water bottles. It is a basic human necessity. If we have to throw away bottles of water, the government must make sure they sell water for a reasonable price after we go past the security.
@@sperera5916 understandable, a lot of people are. Neither me nor my wife ever had a problem though, we fly quite a lot and we've always filled our bottles from airport bathroom faucets. I don't think there's need to worry. The only issue is that some airport bathrooms only have warm water faucets, so you'll need to wait before your water cools down :)
DFW allowed me to take full-sized bath and body works products through my backpack in my carryon so I'm not complaining about them, only their layout as forcing people to take a toll road to get to the airport/their terminal is fking wack.
I first experienced these new scanners in the Netherlands. And I was confused and surprised when I told what I no longer need to do when I left the Netherlands. It was a much better experience and more convenient than leaving Toronto.
I’d imagine this is a field where AI could be extremely useful. Allow the scanners to examine the contents and the AI evaluates the data faster and more accurately than a human.
me to i miss walking to the gate with family most people born after 2001 will never understand all this police state bs is normal to theam but its not normal.
It's interesting to see the mix of experiences and opinions surrounding airport security measures. From anecdotes about successfully bypassing security with unexpected items to frustrations with inconsistent procedures across different airports, it's clear that airport security is a complex and sometimes flawed system. While advancements like new scanning technology can improve efficiency, it seems there's still room for improvement in terms of effectiveness and consistency.
Very cool vid Real Engineering guy. I love all your explanations, that is why i would love to see a video about how spherical wheels work... or how would they work because ive been researching and havent seen much about them and i think theyre pretty cool and would potentially solve many problems in the future. Mainly how they could be powered by engines for example
@@alexanderSydneyOz There is a lot of Smith's Detection press material in the video, and some emphasis on how these machines save time ("allowing to spend more money"), which sounds great for any airport manager. I don't believe it's sponsored however, but they probably had an agreement for sharing the press kit and letting him talk with an engineer.
lol.... yeah, because someone watching this runs an airport, and is in the market to buy a bunch of Smith machines coz they saw this video :D :D :D: :D lmfao
@@CrusinVK right lol what are the odds of that? Plus there's no reason to leave out the sponsorship if it existed. People's minds are still swayed whether you disclose or not anyway, and the backlash if it was discovered isn't worth it
These are way slower compared to the old ones when you have precheck. The bottleneck now is not getting cleared by the TSA agents but the backlog of people waiting for bags to go through
@@halfsourlizard9319before the airports were making a killing by not allowing people to bring outside beverages through security. So thr entire time your waiting for your flight, you flight, your layover if you have one, you're drinking something you had to pay for at the airport. You can bring food, but a lot of people think you can't or assume you can't because of the liquid rule. So they all end up buying coffees, drinks, food, snacks etc at the airport. When security takes a long time you make sure you get to the airport early so you have enough time to go through security. So lots of people end up waiting at the airport before their flight and that gives them the time and opportunity to spend money at stores in the airport. Why worry about whether you can take your toiletries, makeup, cologne, etc through security when you can just buy another at the airport? They make a lot of money buy having us throw out perfectly good stuff and repurchase it at a markup.
Thanks for explaining the reason why water is limited in many. There's much more effective ways to conduct airport security as shown by other countries. Over reliance and dependency on technology isn't the only way for security measures.
I had a "fun" experience with this recently. Started taking my laptop out, got told to leave it in, then they still pulled my tray aside after it went through to put everything I had in there back through the machine one-by-one...
All these engineering advances, but then the last time I went through one of those high tech stand up person scanners where they make you lift your arms they got worked up with me because I had a tissue in my pocket ...
Yeah they got mad at my husband because he had forgotten his phone charger in his pocket 🙄 if they can see what's in my pockets, they why do I still have to take my shoes off? Different trip through same airport they flagged my bag and saw I had a container of lotion and said the container was over the limit. I said I'm allowed 3.4 oz the amount in the container is 3.4 or less, he said I can't see into the container to know that. So you mean you can see through my suitcase to see the container and can see through the container to know it has liquid but you can't see through to know how much liquid? And I can't open it to show you how much is inside? It's all ridiculous
Medical Physicist here. Overall, great and education video! You did a thorough research on this topic and radiation is not an easy topic by any means. However, I want to clarify a few things; 1. Photoelectric effect is not the only interactions X-rays have with matter. X-rays and other high energy photons attenuate with a multitude of different interactions, all based on probability. This probability is dependent both on the energy of the photon as well as the density of the material. Rayleigh, compton, photoelectric and pair production are the primary ones. The total probability of a photon interacting with matter is the sum of the individual probabilities for the different interactions. 2. The probability of attenuation does generally speaking decrease with an increase in photon energy. However, the main reason why photons with higher energy can pass through thicker materials is because they have more energy to begin with. Imagine rolling a ball with one speed and then rolling the same ball with twice that speed, the ball will roll further before stopping.
the field of computational mathematics dedicated to reconstructing an approximation of the densities inside the bag from the scans is called inverse problems! It’s fascinating how close a guess they can make from how little measurement data
to be perfectly fair to them (even though they don't deserve it), you only hear about the terrorist attacks they failed to stop. journalists don't write a whole article every time someone is quietly arrested in a security room somewhere -- survivorship bias.
That is why I have encountered TSA line where I don't have to take the laptop or tablet out. These new scanners are in the U.S. but not all TSA lines/airports has them yet; so follow the instructions of the agent at the entrance of the screening belt.
The moment I saw the guy drag around a 3D reconstruction "CT Scanner" immediately come to mind. It's honestly confusing to me why CT scanners weren't used in airports already.
Its quite simple: CT scanners have historically been very expensive to buy and maintain, maintenance heavy and consume huge amounts of electricity. Old ones used liquid nitrogen to cool the magnets to temperature and high end ones are still water-cooled.
CT has been used for pallets of checked baggage for a long time now. And, no. CT doesn’t have magnets or cryogens. That MRI. LOL Carry on luggage is checked with backscatter X-ray. It’s not simply looking through your items, but is looking at how your items fluoresce.
@@LAG09Maybe there's some technical minutiae I'm unaware of but as far as I'm aware CT scanners don't use any magnets of the sort that require substantial cooling, at least not LN2. Personally I would have said that, expense aside, the main reasons CT scanners weren't being used until more recently would be speed, size, and resolution, in particular discrimination of similar density items and classification/modelling of lower density items
Not sure any Americans who travel frequently even have any faith in the TSA. It's well known they spectacularly fail in their singular duty time and time again, to say nothing of how people in other countries avoid the farce entirely without detriment to their safety.
It’s not for free- you as a passenger pay it while buying flight tickets, coffee/snacs at the airport etc. In this comparison to hospital ct scan let’s call it different business model 😉
How things have changed. I designed the first digital airport scanner with a moving picture back in 1978. It had a very low x-ray dose and did not fog normal film. Twenty five years ago, they had CT scanners and dual energy x-ray scanners. They were big and clunky and used mainly for checked baggage. They could even detect money with them. They did not have today's super fast computing power and ran kind of slow.
Thanks for the great explanation! A few weeks ago, I went through Amsterdam Airport and noticed that the security staff was asking people to put their laptops in their carry-on luggage. I also noticed that there were no longer a bunch of bottles of water piled up in the trash cans. Thanks to your research, I now know why! Thanks again!
Well, before 9/11 flying was way nicer, more comfortable and less a pain in the rear. It's been a while since I flew last, who knows, I might just try it out once again. But via car or train I can get to most places I care to, so who knows.
Sucks more bro. Not only you have to take off your shoes and walk bare foot in the airport, can't take more than 300 ml of ALL liquids/gels, the service at the aircraft is a lot worst. 4 hours and a half in a United fly and not even water is available without paying extra.
@@awmperry the CT scanners aren't and even the old X-Ray ones would fog film with multiple uses. This is just physics. Even If it's safe for 1600 ISO then that means it won't be safe for 800 with two scans, 400 with four scans etc. And safe is relative: how much fogging do you want to tolerate?
@@aj_mcnamara I have film cameras that are smaller than any full frame digital camera with excellent lens quality. There is no full frame option out there that is as pocketable as a premium 35mm compact. There are also no digital stills cameras on the market that can really match the sensor size of 120 film to say nothing of large format. The Phase One is almoooost as big as 6x45 medium format but the camera is extremely expensive and actually more finicky and difficult to use than many 120 medium format film cameras, and if you're shooting 6x7 or 6x9 you're blowing it out of the water in terms of film/sensor size anyway. I like carrying a digital camera with me but the ability to bust out the quality of medium format film or the ability to have something completely pocketable with a full frame look is non-trivial. Digital just hasn't done it yet.
Hi from an airport security agent. Though I only work cargo. This was very interesting. I've lived through the transition from one image to two images. P.s. I much prefer rapiscan over smiths-heimann. We do have both brands at my work place.
Your productions are really top notch! Really. So don’t take this as criticism, only a terminology issue than only a physicist would care about and in no way diminish the layperson’s understanding of essential principle. At 4:31 you use the term “intensity” where I believe you mean the photons’ energy or wavelength. (Maybe the meaning has changed since my studies decades ago.😉) This Patreon subscriber gives a big thank you for your very fine explanations of all things engineering.
Just a quick PSA. Not all airports have changed policy to allow water/liquids. I got the water through in Shannon airport in Ireland. Check your local airports policy before trying
A lot of the airports (not only big ones) have a small bottle check machines. It's easier for them to not use it, but if you ask politely or have some medical reasons - they'll do it.
I've seen those in Prague, Bratislava and Moscow.
I’m surprised the TSA agents at pre-clearance in Shannon actually bothered doing any xraying, last time I flew to the US out of Dublin the TSA agents at pre-clearance were just waving everyone through without checking anything other than boarding pass
@@patrickmartin3322 Well, going through airport security twice is a bit of a ridiculous thing to require. I get waved through in Dublin most of the time too. There is absolutely zero reason the TSA can't just trust the DAA to do their job. Having to show up 3 hours early because you have to go through 2 security lines is just a ball ache
We have them in Amsterdam for a few years now. Always feels like a letdown when flying back home and you forgot to take your laptop out of your bag on an older airport
TSA took my can of ravioli
I was recently in Japan traveling through the domestic terminal at Narita and they allowed me to bring my water though. They didn't have these machines tho, the solution was quite a bit more simple. the person working just asked me to take a swig from the bottle to make sure it was water!
CBP asked a dude to do that, and he overdosed
Such a nice human scale solution
@@ernestoglez6725 nothing of value was lost
Simple, but very effective. What a novelty in this day and age.
I always wondered why they didn't just do this. They made me throw out a red bull once. So I chugged as much as I could stand before hopping on a plane. Probably one of my worst ideas ever, btw. 😂
My favorite part about the new security tech is never knowing which airports have it and which don’t, so at one airport you get scolded for taking laptops and liquids out of your bag, and at another airport you’ll get yelled at for not taking them out 🙃
Look at the signs. They tell you what to do.
@@RedHotBagel Until some bitchy, useless TSA agent arbitrarily changes the rules just to fuck with you. Which isn't rare because they are petty tyrants that couldn't become real cops but love abusing their power just as much.
I worked an internship at the UK parliament and my first couple of weeks before I got my pass I had to go through security to be picked up. I developed a method of sticking everything I could except for belt inside my jacket so I could put that in the tray, walk through, grab jacket and go without the fiddling. Which has worked ever since except for the odd occasion where I do all that then get told "sir! Jackets on please! Only loose items in the tray." So then you look like an idiot.
@@RedHotBagel Then there are the ones with multiple signs telling you to take out your laptop and water only to tell you at the end to put them back in (looking at you Milan)
@@RedHotBagel The airport staff don't always follow the signs and might tell you something different.
My favorite TSA story: my father was an airline pilot during 9/11. A few months after the new "safe" TSA security checks were implementer he lost his small travel bag, so he grabbed another small bag from his closet, threw in some toiletries and went to work.
SIX MONTHS LATER he found his original bag, and when he dumped the contents out of his "temporary" bag there were two small boxes of 9mm ammo! So for 6 months he had been going through the newly minted TSA security screenings, at least 6 times a week, with 50 rounds of ammo, and was never caught.
Maybe they just let it pass cuz they wanted their pilots packed but can't legally say it
I was part of the first batch of TSA screeners in my home town, and I can say your story tracks. While there were plenty of intelligent people who worked for the TSA (I'd like to think I was one of them), there were a large amount of people who were hired because they were struggling to find work for a variety of reasons, many of which were personality and ethics related. Things often got missed. We would have trainings where security failures from other airports were shared with us... some of those failures included fully loaded firearms being missed on the x-ray... which is something that most people could have seen without any training at all.
Complicating the issue, the terrorists behind 9/11 used items which the FAA allowed on flights. After 9/11, the government stepped in and fired all of the private contractors, many of which had years of qualified experience, and hired largely a brand new screening force. While some private screeners migrated over to the TSA, many screeners opted not to since it would have resulted in a cut in pay. A more rational, less expensive and far more effective approach would have been to simply tighten the security already in place, and implement new trainings with existing staff.
The irony here is that while your father traveled with 50 rounds of ammunition, there were plenty of old ladies who had fingernail scissors thrown away.
Finally, I always thought it was funny that we even had to screen the pilots to the degree we had... if a pilot had bad intentions, they hardly needed a knife or a gun to follow through.
@@jaybravo2199 my father passed away a few years ago, but I heard him yelling from beyond when I read your last paragraph - nothing agravated him more than getting screened "like the rest of the cattle" he'd say, lol. Of course, if he reasoned with the agent, "I'm the pilot, I don't need a weapon to crash the plane" he would have been tackled and handcuffed.
@@vacuousbard6410 With ammo but no gun? What was he gonna do, throw the rounds at the terrorists?
@@asystole_it’s actually quite possible to do serous damage by stabing the firing pin
As a radiologist, just wanted to say that this was very well researched.
How do I contact you? I have a consultation regarding x-rays
Real Engineering: here are some papers, equations, graphs and tables explaining exactly how these machines work
Half as Interesting: "So I sent my outside correspondant Amy through airport security with two kitchen knives, a bomb, and a water bottle filled with gasoline"
Lmao🤣
Next episode: The logistics of the legal and prison system.
Amy deserves a raise!
You forgot the brick ;)
@@theinternetbutler
"Say that you're managing a prison. We'll call it Half As Prison. -"
Beware if travelling with film! These machines will usually wreck it, put your film in a plastic bag and ask a member of staff to hand check it for you instead.
Yes, CT scanners will fog ALL film, regardless of speed (ISO)! Hand check it always.
Is it though bacause i had my film camera with me and they wouldn`t let me skip the scanning for it and i thought ok all my photos will be ruined but they turned out just fine, no quality loss or anything.
Ive heard they screw with the digital CMOS sensors used in modern mirrorless cameras as well.
Film? Are you still living in 2008?
@@T1Oracle some people like using film
You briefly mentioned how it's "not a lab" but a real, physical area. This is much more important than the short comment makes it sound. I work with a guy who pioneered these detectors and he told me once an entire airport had to shut down because the bag scanners stopped working. Turns out the fine jet fuel soot covered the electronics and caused shorts. Maybe that should have been anticipated, but it's an important engineering lesson that no plan survives first contact with the enemy.
Something along the lines of the 6 P's: Prior Planning Prevents *iss-Poor Performance. Oh, then there is A Failure to Plan, is a Plan to Fail.
That must have been a really bad day for a lot of people.
"Entropy always wins."
That simple fact made ma a lot of money as an Electrician.
Basically, we channel and direct entropy to where the work needs to be done.
Moral of the story might also be to roll out new technology slowly (IE don't replace every scanner in your airport at once) so that you can go back to the old method if the new one sucks.
TSA: Sir, you can't take that water bottle with you, it could be an explosive
Me: *throw it in the garbage next to them*
TSA: enjoy your flight!
Security theater, indeed. With the emphasis on theater.
@@jozef_chocholacek Last time we tested them they caught 3% of the dangerous objects, it's not the x-ray scanner to blame by the way it was when they had the newer scanner tech.
@@jozef_chocholacek Did you know that "theater" is a HUGE part of security? The guy who made the term popular is a security guru but fails miserably to explain that.
Same reason why a fake CCTV camera does better than nothing. It's why a Master Lock is generally enough to deter a potential criminal.
@@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusketand yet they caught a lot of guns and knives this year.
I just wish there was an easy way to distinguish between a drink and an explosive. Something that could be done right at the spot. Like, say, drinking from that damn bottle!
I am a part of a research group that uses x-ray diffraction crystalography and other high-energy optical spectra techniques. While its not quite the same, it was cool seeing the theory behind my day to day making it into a video!
It's good to hear they're getting more efficient at security theater. I'll keep watching them confiscate nail clippers and grenade shaped mugs
Or even mug-shaped mugs
It's an avocado I swear!
Definitely theater. Rules changed but not the equipment at my airport.
The theatre is becoming effective and ceasing to be theatrical.
Hehe, my favourite was when Disney opened their Star Wars land and retail bottles of coke that were oddly shaped were all of a sudden a massive security problem. Keep everyone distracted
I got pulled for additional screening. I had my toddlers toy lizard in my bag and 2 apple sauce pouches. Looked hilarious on the monitor.
Watched a guy try to pass his old tool bag full of tools through….. whined that he came to fix his parents house and was going to home to AZ. Told to send as baggage. They escorted him to the baggage counter. That’s the last I saw of him. TSA wins everytime.
My mom used to fly a lot for work. One time she accidentally dropped her phone in the toilet and put it in a bag of rice to soak out the water. Security had a field day with it xD
@@Dirtyharry70585Tbf a hammer or something is a more plausible weapon than a lot of things they ban
I once sent through my backpack, it had my clarinet in it and a bunch of charging cables.
Turns out on the monitor, that looks like a bunch of cylinders wrapped in wire -- exactly like a cartoon bundle of TNT...
I got stopped on two separate occasions for a Wacom tablet stylus they insisted resembled a detonator.
As a first time flyer, it was very confusing going from one airport security to another and having completely different procedures. Remove everything at the first, and nothing at the next. Water out, then forgot it in my metal water bottle in the next and wasn’t flagged. I had no idea different scanners were part of that difference. Glad to see improvements though with how many small things I had in my bag. Unloading it was a massive pain
Nothing is ever the same in airport screening, even when there are guidelines listing the requirements for a given screening entity.
Checkpoint A can have different requirements to Checkpoint B. Even though both checkpoints are 100 meters apart in the same terminal operated by the same company.
My experience has been that water is allowed into the airport checked in area, where its usually a mall like environment. Its banned at the checkpoint leading to the actual gates.
In the US security procedures are uniform, but their enforcement may not be. Abroad things are very different. If you are a novice flyer in the US, you’re going to be in the regular security line. This currently means laptops out, shoes off, and going through a full body scanner. In Precheck you keep shoes on and laptops in and go through a metal detector. In both lanes liquids must be in
@@osculant 🐑
@viceice not really. It's not supposed to be taken through security. Once through security you can buy anything sold at the airport and take it through the gates onto the plane. There are airports that sell liquor, you could go by a bottle and take it with you in the cabin, you just couldn't drink it on the plane.
Though I flew recently and only realized when I got home I had flown with a full bottle of water and had managed to get it through security and customs. So it just depends on the place if you can take it through security but I've never heard of anyone being asked to throw their drink away before boarding. Not sure why you would think it's banned
Was this whole video just an ad for Smiths Detection?
Anyway, it worked. The next scanner I buy will be Smiths Detection.
Smiths Detection, when you want detection you want Smiths.
Yes but still fascinating
I've just been last weekend to Berlin Branderburg Airport BER and it was my first time seeing one of those smiths security scanners. I was so confused why we wouldnt have to take out laptops or water out anymore, and wanted to search for this new technology, but didnt find anything. Now i stumbled upon this video, and it makes a lot more sense. I just think that as it is right now, not everyone sees the signs of taking out laptops, water etc, so this will take longer. (I was travelling in a group of 70 people and quite a lot of them just took out their laptops and emptied their bottles out of routine.) But when everyone knows those new scanners, it could be really time and nerves saving for everyone. Great Vid!
I was about to correct you about "hasn't flow for the past 20 years left their laptop in their bag" (0:41), because it has only been the case for a few years, since 9/11 to be exact. Then I realized how old I got and that I'm still living in the early 2000s in my head...
"since 9/11" - I remember the Before-Time.
In the 90s I did a lot of practical work, and carried a pocket-knife [Victorinox] on my key-chain and habitually hung it out of my pocket and my keys in to reduce the bulk in my pocket, and coz it was easier to grab [also had a quick-release].
I got to the scanner [1999] and put various things on the belt, and the man said, "And the Knife."
Yep, Scan that, Make sure it's a Knife, for my plane-trip.
[Of interest, I just checked my local rules, and a S.A.K. is still OK to "carry" in public for it's normal practical purpose - But Anything Large or Locking; No Fucking Way - And they do metal-detecting these days at Public-Transit, and the Night-Club district]
As a 90s kid, this how I constantly feel like. Then I realize its been a little longer than I like to think.
many airports ask you to not take out the laptop
Same, dude. Same. 😩
I was born after 9/11. I’m old enough to drink
I took a flight from Haneda Airport weeks ago and seeing the officer moving the 3D model of my bag was nuts
Went through Stockholm ARN recently and I read several signs saying “leave everything in your bag” thinking it can’t possibly be true, but I was wrong. I guess that’s one more thing to put on the “in the olden days…” bag for the generations to come
We will be the annoying old people in airports in the future, trying to take out half our bag in the security line out of habit lol
@@phyllojoe5346 That's every American at non US airports.
Even in dubai its the same I didn't take anything out and I'm so happy my laptop was nice and cozy lol
in Helsinki it's also the same 😂
On the other hand I read that people flying out of Singapore & transiting in India are banned from carrying any liquids in hand luggage at all
My friend used to be a guy who's job was to test TSA. They missed like 95% of bad shit he would sneak through. It's a waste of money letting them still exist
It's security theater to make people feel safer
I've gone through security so many times and get false positives randomly on different items even though I had all the same items each time.
@@epicemmalee2000it's a government jobs program masquerading as a security program
@@epicemmalee2000 why? Does it not add the risk of contrarians and drama queens?
@@uristmcary Yes and it makes people more complacent since the area is supposed to be secure and safe. Regular people aren't looking for threats nor are they willing to neutralize them. You should not have to forgo privacy and bodily autonomy in order to travel. As Benjamin Franklin warned, we have traded essential liberty for temporary safety and now deserve neither.
The water thing is probably more of a financial thing - if I can open the bottle and drink it without dying in front of TSA, then it must surely be water.
If you think about it, all these lithium powered devices we carry make for much better explosives, and yet they are allowed on every flight (well aware of the energy restriction). With a burning temperature of 2000 Degrees Celsius, what's stopping someone from using a couple of electronic devices in conjunction to do terrible damage? The fumes alone are deadly already...
We've got to rethink our airport and plane security in general. The current measures, reliable as they are, remain more of a show than actual security. Anyone with serious intent can find their way around it, its all far too fragile of a system.
Other than that, great video as always :)
My last flight crews verbally forbid charging of vapes during the flight and I would love to hear the contingency plan they have for a thermal runaway device in the cabin.
@@godlugner5327 Fire extinguishers, and diverted landing
While watching this, I'm already working on getting around it... and I have zero intent or desire. Just a fun thing to think about. The fact is, perfect security doesn't exist.
@@godlugner5327 They have a fire-safe box.
@@godlugner5327They've got bags rated to contain lipo battery fires for batteries under a certain capacity, which is also why there's a limit to how large your batteries can be.
At (Amsterdam Airport) Schiphol we’ve had these machines for years now! It’s amazing! It’s always so frustrating when the return flight leaves from an airport with older machines, and you’ve to throw away stuff I had with me on the way there, not to mention the time it takes to take out all liquids, laptops etc
Schiphol has different machines than the ones shown here though :)
@@Atom15 different brand, same idea
@@Fullsendittttt Only for high top shoes (over the anke)
@@EmeraldRod Nope wrong. Where you got that piece of nonsense I've no idea
Huh...now that you mention it, when I went to Amsterdam last summer I remember how quick it was to get in and out :)
Also, each element has jumps in X-ray absorption in different places, so if you really want to isolate a certain element, you can X-ray it once a little below and once a little above and the difference shows you that element (e.g. iron has a jump in absorption at 7.1 keV, so 6.7 keV and 7.5 keV). That way you can find and confiscate all the steel nail clippers hiding among a bunch of loose change, to keep everyone "safe."
Low Z elements have k-edges way too low to detect. A 7 keV photon will be attenuated by a few micrometers of iron/a few mm of water. Mammography operate at 30 kVp, medical CT at 120, and industrial CT:s at several hundred (since they need to image dense metals).
Maybe in a synchrotron... but the luggage would have to be frozen... but then you might as well check fluorescence
Elements… but can they detect the difference between my MDMA and prescribed adderall?
The TSA in America purchased $700 million of these new machines by Analogic called the conneCT. THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE! They constantly crash and require restarts, are extremely slow, and agents hate them with a passion.
I work in aviation, ever since we switched to these awful pieces of garbage lines have doubled at my airport. Smith Machines are featured here and work as expected, but the round white and blue Analogics will ADD anywhere from 10-40 minutes to your security wait.
You know it’s bad when I hear TSA agents talk bad about the machines.
The TSA agents know that these machines will end their tyranny! They'll make sure these machines won't work...
My airport currently has multiple x-rays not in use because something has happened to them. Then, the ones that are working go down constantly because they are used so much. I would rather use the old 2D AT smiths than the analogics. Just because of the fact they worked... literally a hat falling out of a bin will fault the analogic but not the smiths.
@@jjbboxbulbasaur6183 US government spent $700 million on garbage machines, apart from sending foreign countries billions in cash. I’m just so very tired of America and its incompetent corruption. I wouldn’t even mind if it was competent corruption, but alas, we have brain dead president with a cabinet full of diversity hires and cronies. Gasoline in my area just went up .60¢ to $4.90. It’s supposed to go up to $6 by summer…..
They're worse when you have f**ktard DOs that don't do their job, this is for non ASL lanes.
Cannot agree enough with this comment. The Analogically scanners SUCK.
"this is not a lab setting"
I hope you know how much of a understatement that is
" I love graphs [...] just look at this graph." Has to be one of the funniest lines that I'll love from this series man.
Recently was told I didn’t have to take my stuff out my bag. If you could have seen my face…
Me: Taking my laptop out of my bag
TSA Agent: “Leave your laptop in your bag.”
Me: Bluesceens… “I leave it in?”
TSA Agent: “Don’t take it out. Leave it in the bag.”
Me: “Okay…”
they are def getting way better at their stuff
and honestly the more they blend into the background, the more i get the feeling it's not just security theater anymore and that they're actually caring. (they got railed _hard_ by congress for pure security theater crap shortly before these changes started getting in the pipeline, so i would not be surprised if that helped kickstart this change.)
I used to fly Manchester UK > Dulles > Manchester UK regularly.
@ Dulles, walking towards the line you could tell whether it was laptop out / belt off by how busy they were.
Terrorists hate queues too apparently.
Sign: “Take electronics out of your bag.”
Me: “Taking laptop out of my bag.”
TSA Agent: “Leave electronics in your bag.”
Me: Eh???
@@mensaswede4028then they get annoyed when you ask on the return flight, like "can't you read"
Let’s not forget a couple of years ago, when security queues were so bad in Dublin that people literally drove to Shannon to fly instead!
They weren’t much better last year. It took nearly 25 minutes to get through.
I'm just happy I don't have to go to the airport 2 hours ahead. It's been refreshing to show up 30 minutes before boarding starts and still make it in time.
You mean, to do what was normal in 1970?
@@codetech5598 it was like that up until 2001.
Yep. And eith hand luggage, it is even faster. Honestly, i wiuld never do it, but i think id be fine arriving 15 minutes before.
@@DtWolfwoodthere must've so many people who couldn't make it to their flight when they first implemented it
I still show up over an hour early, you never know what kind of events can drastically increase tsa times.
For example, I live in Texas and had to travel for work a day after the eclipse. My flight was leaving at 6am so I show up a little before 5am thinking it would be a ghost town that early. I of course forgot everyone traveled to Texas for the eclipse. The tsa line was 45 minutes long and growing longer by the minute. I barely made it to my flight.
Always show up really early, you never know what might hold you up.
I recently went on a trip to see the eclipse and as I don't travel much I was surprised when at SEA they told me to stop unpacking my bag and to just leave it. Getting a glimpse of the screen made it very clear it was some type of high-resolution CT scan compared to a traditional x-ray but it's really interesting to hear about the details about the dual energy part and how the materials are identified and differentiated!
Huge time saver and reduction of stress, especially combined with spot saver programs where you can schedule a time to enter a priority check queue!
I am a medical imaging physicist, work with CT scanners everyday, but I didn't know how the tech I know is applied in security. Ingenious. Thanks!
The first I heard about these was actually warnings to travelling film photographers about how they can fog film (plain X-ray machines these days are low dose enough that you can get away with sticking most film through them, but these devices, just like medical CT scanners, use a lot more radiation than their 2D counterparts)
6:11 "Dont talk to me, I haven't had my C8H10N4O2 yet this morning"
Def need that on a tshirt!!!
Hot Brown bean soup
Ahhh, CT scanners. I shoot pictures on analog film, and if you put that through these the rolls get fucked. Gotta ask them to check the rolls by hand, and everyone in line behind me gives me dirty looks
that's been the case since I was a child - though the percentage of people who know what photographic film is, is falling off sharply.
@@kenbrown2808Some key points here - film is seeing a modern day comeback to the point that new film camera manufacturers are starting production and Kodak is reintroducing discontinued film stock, and most film is resistant enough to x-rays that you could get away with the standard 2D machines, at least the relatively modern ones, while the CT scanners use much higher doses to work.
@@bosstowndynamics5488 and yet, my whole adult life, I have known to have film hand checked at airport security.
You should use the film the astronauts used on the "Moon" in 1969. It takes sharp color pictures unaffected by radiation.
skill issue
I love that you are the exact same type of nerd that I am, and ask questions about things most folk don't even think about. Keep the videos coming, love the content!
I love the sponsor! 80,000 hours does really great work
2:18 Blender 3D used in airport security?
lol hahhaha
makes you wonder what else is fake...
Yeees! Haha I’m curious if they made the xray image next to it in blender or was it just onscreen for b-roll
they make 3d objects as a side gig
That whole image is a blender reconstruction of a Smiths Detection HI-SCAN 6040 CTiX Cabin Baggage Screening machine. Look at the baggage in the next frame and the background with the shipping crates which have Real Engineering logos on them.
Bajillions of dollars later and my 6 in 1 screwdriver almost always needs to be inspected, even through these new machines.
It has to appear secure,not be secure.
fitting profile pic lol
Your profile pic is relevant here haha
@@robob4465Yep. And what's more unfortunate is that appearing secure doesn't imply actual security.
Smiths making crazy money with these machines. Even in Europe I only see this brand.
or how to rob a captive market blind, because if these moronic laws weren't in place...
That's weird, there are definitely competing products like Rapiscan 920 CT
American airports use Analogic instead even though they're less reliable and they don't change any policies except maybe laptops when there's a CT
2:18 I love this little insider access to see the 3d modelling scene
They have these in Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam and it's by far the quickest airport security I've been through
You are so right about seasoned travelers knowing about faster x-rays lol I used to get upset when they were all down and only the old ones were in use
as a photographer who primarily shoots with film, these scanners are terrible, the old scanners would only fry film above 800 ISO (very light sensitive) not anymore, any film that goes through the new ones will be completely wrecked. and yes I could (and do) ask for a hand check, but more often then not I've been told to put it through the scanner or fuckoff, that has been relatively fine as I shoot film under 800ISO most of the time but now... I hope they keep at least a few of the old ones
yeah the tsa agents need trained to not shove film (esp used film) through those scanners.
I'm, ship your film to/from your destination? This isn't rocket science. I'm a weirdo in different ways, but you can't expect normie-optimised systems to care about you 🤷♀️
@@halfsourlizard9319 Fuck the normies. OP shouldn't have to spend their own money to ship their luggage separately.
@@halfsourlizard9319 yes, that is true, until they lose your memories/work, I've shipped film once, thankfully it was just unexposed, so all I lost was money, but ya, they lost my package the risk is too high to ship exposed rolls. I'm not saying remove all the new CT scanners, they are as the video shows, brilliant for people who aren't bringing film, but I just hope they keep at least one "sensitive materials" line!
I recently was able to send my bag through one of these machines. It was pretty cool not having to go through the hassle of unpacking everything. The TSA still couldn't let the chance to feel me up afterwards pass by. I noticed they were doing the same to an older gentleman after I stepped away and was putting my shoes on. They felt up a lot of genitals that day and I don't think they caught a single terrorist. Security theater gonna security theater
I typically thank them for the massage. Should I be tipping?
I mean, did you instead choose not to go thru the scanner yourself? That’s literally the ONLY reason they ever do that…if you CHOOSE it.
@@macgeek2004 Nah, I went through the scanner. Everyone I saw that got felt up went through. They'll grope you if they feel like it, even when you do what they ask.
Awh man you still need to take off your shoes? European airport here, we don't have to (unless hitop boots) and didn't have to take out electronics for many years!!
Goon security theatre, more like it. *gag*
I work for Smiths in Germany! It's honestly such cool tech and cool to see some coverage on UA-cam :) the diffraction scanner you were talking about launched last week (if anyone is curious it's the SDX 10080 XDi, there's a video of how that works on UA-cam as well)
I live in the UK and going through security is a PITA. I am an electronics engineer so tend to carry a lot of hardware with me and 9/10 times I go through I get stopped.
Germany on the other hand is a cinch. I go through Munich reasonably regularly and very rarely get stopped and don't have to take my laptop out of my bag either.
I'm brown so I get stopped 10/10 times. I'm the randomly selected mvp
This is good timing for me as I flew out of Milan Malpensa Airport and I realized in line that I had 2 half drank water bottles and 2 Powerade bottles in my backpack. So I chucked one water and didn’t find a garbage to trash the other liquid. The security agent told me it didn’t matter and somehow my other bag got additional search (for my toiletry bag) while my backpack with the liquids didn’t require any extra search
Probably had a spray, maybe a deodorant in the toiletry bag, no?
and by security we actually mean security theater as all the security agencies have shown they can and do regularly send teams through with contraband without the slightest issue.
"What are these large bags of powder in their suitcase? Oh well. At least it's not a pocketknife or a bottle of water!"
Deterrance can't be measured
These are the kinds of videos I love! Someone who is curious about something and passionately shares what they found. I learned so much from this video! Thank you!
Reminder the TSA hasn't ever caught any terrorists but has had somewhere around 2,000 agents arrested for theft.
TSA is a joke!
Almost as if it's all about control and not safety
The real security is never seen. The display we endure is for show (and why they spend so much money on it is curious) but behind the scenes - from checked bags to passenger manifests to airport contractor crewing - there is security work done.
The public is not told about all of the terrorists caught as they don't want to cause panic. Attacks are thwarted on a daily basis. The fact that we can be so ignorant about it shows that it's working.
And why have they never caught a terrorist since we've had hightened security in place? Are you saying terrorists are getting through security and then suddenly deciding not to do anything once on the plane?
Think beyond 2 dimensions.
You can't imagine how much I smiled when the fast lines opened up in Munich with the new scanners.
I noticed the queue with these new "Smiths detection" machines was much faster, so I went for it. I noticed people weren't taking out anything out of their bags. When it was my turn, I asked: "Do I have to take stuff like laptops and headphones out?" and to my surprise the security guy said no.
I felt so good! I had just been through security (that normally takes an hour, or more) in 12 minutes. And it's not like it was a slow day at the airport, this was around Easter!
I used to arrive at the airport 2 hours before my flight with the old scanners. Now I still arrive 1 hour before my flight at the airport and I usually have a good 45 minutes of free time. 10-15 for security, no ID checks, because Shengen. I love it!
Traveling around Europe became faster and more enjoyable.
I remember a few years ago I managed to bring 500ml water bottle through Schipol security, I was confused why it was allowed but I don't care at the time because I have extra water on a long flight. Now it all make sense.
Security theater. My friend accidentally brought a Bowie knife in her carryon and no one caught it because she’s a super cute blonde in her 20s and they were flirting with her. As long as they hire people who couldn’t get hired at Starbucks, TSA will never be actual security. No one is going to blow up a plane with a liquid explosive.
social engineering is powerful. i've heard of people breaching even big corporate security and entering controlled-access areas just bc they look like a contractor and are carrying a metal clipboard.
even the highest security stuff, like military base security, can fall victim to social engineering.
@@dead-claudia The largest weakpoint in any cyber security setting is almost always the people.
Sometime after 911, maybe 2005 or 2006, they did catch some guys that had been planning to use liquid explosives on planes..... I was like 19 or so then, but I think that was about the same time they put the restrictions on liquids.
@@Blinkerd00d I believe hidden in footwear, so they started asking people to remove shoes at that time to be passed in the scanner.
@@JoseLopez-hp5oo Yeah it was around that same time the they caught that guy with them in his shoes... But I think the liquid stuff was a cell that they caught before they could implement. I may be mis-remembering thing tho.
Wow, it does it so fast. LTT just did a video on one that had scans that could take 11 hours for high detail.
I just watched that video too. I have a masters degree in medical image processing, so the immediate first thing I thought of when I saw both these videos was "dude, thats spectral ct" lol
Funny how both these videos came out so close to one another
Cause the "emmiter" and "reader" of his machine is stationary and is the object that moves, and it changes the focus. with each object.
The airport ones have an easyer job, because the position and focus of the object is alwways the same (the tray). And the emiter and reader revolves arround it. Les variables, easyer job, thus faster.
@@javipaniagua2942It also doesn't need sub millimeter accuracy to get the shape and density of pretty much everything in a bag. TSA isn't inspecting solder joints on your VR headsets, but they'll see your dildos and clothes just fine
@@javipaniagua2942 Cargo scanning.
It's also doing much less detail to begin with. The one LTT have is for verifying an individual M1 screw is properly in place, or that SMD solder joints are good, while this one just wants to know roughly what an object is. LTT's is probably just as fast for the same level of detail
@5:55 Nice Johnny Harris reference!
I haven't travelled much, but the best airport security clearance I have experienced is at Schiphol, Amsterdam. So quick and totally hassle free! The designers & technology partners did a grand job there. It feels like a friendly neighborhood place. ❤ it.
Problem that I hate is prices of water bottles. It is a basic human necessity. If we have to throw away bottles of water, the government must make sure they sell water for a reasonable price after we go past the security.
i always bring an empty reusable water bottle and fill it up at a water fountain in the terminal
@@LOISWI This. You don't have to buy overpriced bottled water. Even in Africa, there's always drinkable water in the airport facilities.
@@nosy-cat I kind of hesitant to use the public drinkable water fountain/faucets.
@@sperera5916 understandable, a lot of people are. Neither me nor my wife ever had a problem though, we fly quite a lot and we've always filled our bottles from airport bathroom faucets. I don't think there's need to worry. The only issue is that some airport bathrooms only have warm water faucets, so you'll need to wait before your water cools down :)
The water is usually free if you bring your own container.
You obviously didn't fly out of Dallas Love, where they walk a dog behind every two people...
DFW is way behind in the scanner game too.
@@haydenf1353 I hate DFW so much.
DFW allowed me to take full-sized bath and body works products through my backpack in my carryon so I'm not complaining about them, only their layout as forcing people to take a toll road to get to the airport/their terminal is fking wack.
video: science science science
me: lol the xray picture of the leg bone has a butt in it
I'm honestly 100% surprised that I had to scroll down so far in the comments to find this joke.
I travel a lot for work and I first saw these in Missoula Montana 2022 and they were amazing! Hopefully the higher traffic airports get these soon!
I first experienced these new scanners in the Netherlands. And I was confused and surprised when I told what I no longer need to do when I left the Netherlands. It was a much better experience and more convenient than leaving Toronto.
I’d imagine this is a field where AI could be extremely useful. Allow the scanners to examine the contents and the AI evaluates the data faster and more accurately than a human.
"i miss the good old days" moment
me to i miss walking to the gate with family most people born after 2001 will never understand all this police state bs is normal to theam but its not normal.
I miss when cockpit doors were unlocked. ;-)
@@fractal4284 I was going to say the exact thing you just did. Good old times.
@user-my3yp1wb2z The crap known as religion is the root cause of all of this.
I’m told that in the good ol days, you’d get on a plane just like a bus or train, sometimes even running.
It's interesting to see the mix of experiences and opinions surrounding airport security measures. From anecdotes about successfully bypassing security with unexpected items to frustrations with inconsistent procedures across different airports, it's clear that airport security is a complex and sometimes flawed system. While advancements like new scanning technology can improve efficiency, it seems there's still room for improvement in terms of effectiveness and consistency.
Ok ChatGPT
I was just learning about this in my physics 2 class today. What great timing!
Very cool vid Real Engineering guy. I love all your explanations, that is why i would love to see a video about how spherical wheels work... or how would they work because ive been researching and havent seen much about them and i think theyre pretty cool and would potentially solve many problems in the future. Mainly how they could be powered by engines for example
You'll never see this video until some company using spherical wheels pays Real Engineering to make one.
You're really just wondering how BB8 doesn't grind to a halt from sand every 7 seconds, aren't you?
@@ps.2 maybe....... 🤔🤔
And their really good at getting rid of the pesky whistleblowers!
You forgot to say, "This video has been sponsored by Smith's Detection".
Why would he have 'forgotten' to say then, when it isn't true?
@@alexanderSydneyOz There is a lot of Smith's Detection press material in the video, and some emphasis on how these machines save time ("allowing to spend more money"), which sounds great for any airport manager.
I don't believe it's sponsored however, but they probably had an agreement for sharing the press kit and letting him talk with an engineer.
lol.... yeah, because someone watching this runs an airport, and is in the market to buy a bunch of Smith machines coz they saw this video :D :D :D: :D lmfao
@@remiheneault8208 The camera angles seem to have been chosen to feature the brand name.
@@CrusinVK right lol what are the odds of that?
Plus there's no reason to leave out the sponsorship if it existed. People's minds are still swayed whether you disclose or not anyway, and the backlash if it was discovered isn't worth it
This combined with TSA Precheck would be an instant money maker for an airport
What evidence is there that the airport monetisies security theatre? My understanding is that it's a net loss for them
These are way slower compared to the old ones when you have precheck. The bottleneck now is not getting cleared by the TSA agents but the backlog of people waiting for bags to go through
@@halfsourlizard9319before the airports were making a killing by not allowing people to bring outside beverages through security. So thr entire time your waiting for your flight, you flight, your layover if you have one, you're drinking something you had to pay for at the airport. You can bring food, but a lot of people think you can't or assume you can't because of the liquid rule. So they all end up buying coffees, drinks, food, snacks etc at the airport. When security takes a long time you make sure you get to the airport early so you have enough time to go through security. So lots of people end up waiting at the airport before their flight and that gives them the time and opportunity to spend money at stores in the airport. Why worry about whether you can take your toiletries, makeup, cologne, etc through security when you can just buy another at the airport? They make a lot of money buy having us throw out perfectly good stuff and repurchase it at a markup.
Thanks for explaining the reason why water is limited in many. There's much more effective ways to conduct airport security as shown by other countries. Over reliance and dependency on technology isn't the only way for security measures.
Thanks for adding actual captions for the Deaf. makes it easier to follow
I was confused when I got yelled at for taking my electronics out last time
Pull your pants down and spread your butt cheeks for a search, then act all innocent and confused. Next time they won't be such jerks.
Yeah, it's nice when they change the rules, sometimes day by day, and expect you to know
Same just recently lmao
LA is one
I had a "fun" experience with this recently. Started taking my laptop out, got told to leave it in, then they still pulled my tray aside after it went through to put everything I had in there back through the machine one-by-one...
All these engineering advances, but then the last time I went through one of those high tech stand up person scanners where they make you lift your arms they got worked up with me because I had a tissue in my pocket ...
Ik it's almost as if they didn't want to touch your genitals 🤔
I had the exact same situation !
Exactly what the machine does... detects object on you
Yeah they got mad at my husband because he had forgotten his phone charger in his pocket 🙄 if they can see what's in my pockets, they why do I still have to take my shoes off?
Different trip through same airport they flagged my bag and saw I had a container of lotion and said the container was over the limit. I said I'm allowed 3.4 oz the amount in the container is 3.4 or less, he said I can't see into the container to know that. So you mean you can see through my suitcase to see the container and can see through the container to know it has liquid but you can't see through to know how much liquid? And I can't open it to show you how much is inside? It's all ridiculous
It’s the only time in America where you won’t be charged separately for a CT scan.
And yet, in Europe, you are charged for every dollar you make and every dollar you spend to pay for top surgeries for children. Touché!
Medical Physicist here. Overall, great and education video! You did a thorough research on this topic and radiation is not an easy topic by any means. However, I want to clarify a few things;
1. Photoelectric effect is not the only interactions X-rays have with matter. X-rays and other high energy photons attenuate with a multitude of different interactions, all based on probability. This probability is dependent both on the energy of the photon as well as the density of the material. Rayleigh, compton, photoelectric and pair production are the primary ones. The total probability of a photon interacting with matter is the sum of the individual probabilities for the different interactions.
2. The probability of attenuation does generally speaking decrease with an increase in photon energy. However, the main reason why photons with higher energy can pass through thicker materials is because they have more energy to begin with. Imagine rolling a ball with one speed and then rolling the same ball with twice that speed, the ball will roll further before stopping.
the field of computational mathematics dedicated to reconstructing an approximation of the densities inside the bag from the scans is called inverse problems! It’s fascinating how close a guess they can make from how little measurement data
The Linus tech tips deep explanation video is here guys! This is what we needed after seeing his new machine
I’m so happy that the TSA Theater will now be so much better at stopping zero terrorist attacks per year.
Literally this.
Google: TSA Stopped A Record 6,737 Guns From Getting On Planes In 2023-93% Of Them Loaded.
@@pdubsweir3 Right. Haven't seen many in flight weapon or explosive incidents. Just the usual loony passengers disrupting flights
to be perfectly fair to them (even though they don't deserve it), you only hear about the terrorist attacks they failed to stop. journalists don't write a whole article every time someone is quietly arrested in a security room somewhere -- survivorship bias.
@@durdleduc8520 if the TSA managed to stop a terrorist attack we wouldn’t stop hearing about it for weeks.
If I where an airport, I'd buy one instantly, best ad ever
You wouldn't have a choice in the matter they TSA calls the shots for you.
Airports don't own or control any of this.
Customs Kenya has had these types of scanners for nearly 8 years now, they're amazing, every checkpoint deserves that upgrade
That is why I have encountered TSA line where I don't have to take the laptop or tablet out. These new scanners are in the U.S. but not all TSA lines/airports has them yet; so follow the instructions of the agent at the entrance of the screening belt.
The moment I saw the guy drag around a 3D reconstruction "CT Scanner" immediately come to mind.
It's honestly confusing to me why CT scanners weren't used in airports already.
Its quite simple: CT scanners have historically been very expensive to buy and maintain, maintenance heavy and consume huge amounts of electricity. Old ones used liquid nitrogen to cool the magnets to temperature and high end ones are still water-cooled.
CT has been used for pallets of checked baggage for a long time now. And, no. CT doesn’t have magnets or cryogens. That MRI. LOL
Carry on luggage is checked with backscatter X-ray. It’s not simply looking through your items, but is looking at how your items fluoresce.
@@LAG09Maybe there's some technical minutiae I'm unaware of but as far as I'm aware CT scanners don't use any magnets of the sort that require substantial cooling, at least not LN2. Personally I would have said that, expense aside, the main reasons CT scanners weren't being used until more recently would be speed, size, and resolution, in particular discrimination of similar density items and classification/modelling of lower density items
Cost, and as noted in the video it takes time to get them fit for purpose.
mostly speed, the ct in hospital takes way longer than this maschine does
You can't make security theater too convenient because people may lose faith in it.
What utter nonsense.
Not sure any Americans who travel frequently even have any faith in the TSA. It's well known they spectacularly fail in their singular duty time and time again, to say nothing of how people in other countries avoid the farce entirely without detriment to their safety.
I'd love to know who actually finds it reassuring. I'm sure that there are normie idiots who do ... but nobody I interact with.
airport CT scan can process thousands per day for free, but the hospital still charges thousands of dollars per scan
It’s not for free- you as a passenger pay it while buying flight tickets, coffee/snacs at the airport etc. In this comparison to hospital ct scan let’s call it different business model 😉
@@marcinsobianowski8385 idk what flight ticket and snacks ur buying cause surely it ain't $3000 a ride
Landed here to show my 4 yrs old how they scan on Airport and myself learned a new thing.
Thank you
Ireland was brilliant to travel through and this all just made sense as I have noticed it! Great video!
So the “solution” to the problem is that we should be better screened at the airport and not that the security theater should finally be stopped?
So, the days of being able to carry 100 milliliters of nitroglycerin in an travel bottle inside a clear bag are numbered. Sigh.
Let me explain how it works. Science.
How things have changed. I designed the first digital airport scanner with a moving picture back in 1978. It had a very low x-ray dose and did not fog normal film. Twenty five years ago, they had CT scanners and dual energy x-ray scanners. They were big and clunky and used mainly for checked baggage. They could even detect money with them. They did not have today's super fast computing power and ran kind of slow.
Thanks for the great explanation! A few weeks ago, I went through Amsterdam Airport and noticed that the security staff was asking people to put their laptops in their carry-on luggage. I also noticed that there were no longer a bunch of bottles of water piled up in the trash cans. Thanks to your research, I now know why! Thanks again!
amazing it costs $2000 to put a person through one of these but airports can afford it
Where are you getting this number from?
A no insurance x-ray I had at the ER 2 weeks ago cost $93. The ER visit itself was $800, but the X-ray ... Was not $2000
Our medical system is fundamentally flawed, but let's not make shit up or no one will believe anything ever.
@@apmcx Check how much they bill the insurance company some time...
@@Dunger974 right out of their deep lack of understanding of commerce.
3:55 Gyatt
Well, before 9/11 flying was way nicer, more comfortable and less a pain in the rear. It's been a while since I flew last, who knows, I might just try it out once again. But via car or train I can get to most places I care to, so who knows.
Sucks more bro. Not only you have to take off your shoes and walk bare foot in the airport, can't take more than 300 ml of ALL liquids/gels, the service at the aircraft is a lot worst. 4 hours and a half in a United fly and not even water is available without paying extra.
@@drac124 capitalism at it's most profitable,, the heck with the people. It's disgusting. Sad, this must change.
I’m more impressed with the sheer amount of airport security footage was in this. Are you filming some of these?
Its good to see them checking each and every america looks alot different in tx
Video starts at 3:19
They wreck your film though…
truee
Nope. They're film-safe up to 1600 ISO.
@@awmperry the CT scanners aren't and even the old X-Ray ones would fog film with multiple uses. This is just physics. Even If it's safe for 1600 ISO then that means it won't be safe for 800 with two scans, 400 with four scans etc. And safe is relative: how much fogging do you want to tolerate?
If only there was a more resilient, easier to use, more compact way to store photos digitally...
@@aj_mcnamara I have film cameras that are smaller than any full frame digital camera with excellent lens quality. There is no full frame option out there that is as pocketable as a premium 35mm compact. There are also no digital stills cameras on the market that can really match the sensor size of 120 film to say nothing of large format. The Phase One is almoooost as big as 6x45 medium format but the camera is extremely expensive and actually more finicky and difficult to use than many 120 medium format film cameras, and if you're shooting 6x7 or 6x9 you're blowing it out of the water in terms of film/sensor size anyway.
I like carrying a digital camera with me but the ability to bust out the quality of medium format film or the ability to have something completely pocketable with a full frame look is non-trivial. Digital just hasn't done it yet.
I wonder which excuse will they come up with now to force us to buy 8€/l bottled water in the airport...
Could always just buy a water bottle?
@@Happy-df4yidon't understand your comment. January this year, Frankfurt airport, self service for water bottles, 4,5€ for 0,5l of water.
And there is also water taps for free on most airports. Just gotta bring your own bottle
Hi from an airport security agent. Though I only work cargo. This was very interesting. I've lived through the transition from one image to two images. P.s. I much prefer rapiscan over smiths-heimann. We do have both brands at my work place.
Your productions are really top notch! Really. So don’t take this as criticism, only a terminology issue than only a physicist would care about and in no way diminish the layperson’s understanding of essential principle. At 4:31 you use the term “intensity” where I believe you mean the photons’ energy or wavelength. (Maybe the meaning has changed since my studies decades ago.😉) This Patreon subscriber gives a big thank you for your very fine explanations of all things engineering.