Skip to content
Politics & Current Affairs

X-Rays Combat Terrorism

“As an antiterror measure, the U.S. government has deployed mobile X-ray technology to randomly scan cars and trucks. But the measure is riling privacy proponents.”
Sign up for Big Think on Substack
The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.

“For many living in a terror-spooked country, it might seem like a great government innovation: Use vans equipped with mobile X-ray units to scan vehicles at major sporting events, or even randomly, for bombs or contraband. But news that the US is buying custom-made vans packed with something called backscatter X-ray capacity has riled privacy advocates and sparked internet worries about ‘feds radiating Americans.’ ‘This really trips up the creep factor because it’s one of those things that you sort of intrinsically think the government shouldn’t be doing,’ says Vermont-based privacy expert Frederick Lane, author of ‘American Privacy.'”

Sign up for Big Think on Substack
The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.

Related
The hospital where Rainn Wilson’s wife and son nearly died became his own personal holy site. There, he discovered that the sacred can exist in places we least expect it. During his talk at A Night of Awe and Wonder, he explained how the awe we feel in moments of courage and love is moral beauty — and following it might be the start of our spiritual revolution.
13 min
with

Up Next