[00:00.100]From VOA Learning English,
[00:02.290]this is the Technology Report.
[00:06.040]When a building collapses,
[00:08.750]every minute is important for victims
[00:12.540]buried under the wreckage,
[00:14.400]that is why two American government agencies
[00:18.160]teamed up to develop a high-tech tool
[00:22.160]to find those who are trapped.
[00:25.200]The Department of Homeland Security and NASA,
[00:29.510]the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
[00:33.100]took part in the project.
[00:35.700]Rescue crews have been testing the state-of-the-art
[00:40.260]radar tool called FINDER.
[00:42.720]The name may short for Finding individuals
[00:46.220]for Disaster and Emergency Response.
[00:50.170]This radar device can recognize
[00:53.480]a person's smallest movements or even a heart beat,
[00:58.510]even when the individual is unable to communicate.
[01:03.370]Earlier this year, Homeland Security and rescuers
[01:08.630]used FINDER to carry out more than 65 test searches
[01:15.120]in the American state of Virginia.
[01:18.330]They say, the tests prove successful
[01:22.690]in recognizing a human heart beat under 9 metres
[01:27.630]of mixed concrete and other material.
[01:31.300]The device was also able to identify a heart beat
[01:36.500]hidden behind 6 metres of solid concrete,
[01:40.810]and from a distance of up to 30 metres in open spaces.
[01:46.570]It is an example of how space agency creations
[01:51.320]are helping people here on earth.
[01:54.320]FINDER's technology is based on the tracking technology
[01:59.470]that NASA uses for its spacecraft.
[02:03.690]Jim Lux is with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.
[02:09.190]"FINDER works by sending a low-power microwave signal,
[02:11.740]and it illuminates the rubble pile,
[02:13.940]and some of the microwaves go in
[02:15.480]and reflect off the victim inside and come back out.
[02:18.340]So FINDER sees both the reflection from the rubble,
[02:21.140]which does not move,
[02:22.040]and a very tiny reflection from the victim,
[02:24.190]which does move, because when you breathe
[02:25.790]and when your heart beats,
[02:26.990]your skin moves a little bit and we can see that," Lux said.
[02:28.800]Jim Lux says the device is small,
[02:31.940]easy to carry and easy to use.
[02:36.640]"It goes out and collects 30-seconds' worth of data,
[02:39.200]because that is how long you need to get the heartbeat
[02:41.940]and the breathing, and then it analyzes it
[02:43.950]and displays it for the user," Lux said.
[02:45.750]FINDER could be used with other tools rescuers use,
[02:49.750]such as listening devices or search dogs.
[02:53.660]Matthew Tamillow works with Virginia Task Force 1.
[02:58.370]He says the new technology could help rescuers
[03:03.160]in deciding which buildings to search.
[03:07.380]"This type of technology, including FINDER,
[03:09.730]could aid in the assistance of triaging a building to say,
[03:13.790]'Okay, there is a strong probability
[03:16.090]that a live victim could be in here,
[03:18.250]and we need to devote our valuable human resources
[03:21.210]into searching it,'" said Tamillow.
[03:23.460]FINDER is still being developed and tested.
[03:26.860]NASA says it could start being used in search
[03:31.120]and rescue operation as early as next year.
[03:35.420]And that is the Technology Report from VOA Special English.