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Surprising Science

Military Nose

The Army is seeking proposals for a sophisticated human scent detection system that could “uniquely identify an individual,” at a geographical distance, or after several hours or even days.

The Pentagon has been looking for technologies to use people’s scents to detect, track, and identify them from a distance. The most start-of-the-art technology so far has only been able to distinguish between two different people and needs armpit scent—but now the Army is seeking proposals for a more sophisticated detection system. It is looking for a product that could “uniquely identify an individual based on scent,” at a geographical distance or after several hours or even days.


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