Radar Can Save Lives in Nepal

Considering that the earthquakes in Nepal is currently such an big issue in the world, I found that it might be an appropriate topic. Because some researchers from California have created a device, called FINDER(Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response), that detects heartbeats of people and animals trapped underneath collapsed buildings etc. It can also differ between humans and animals.

The device uses microwave radar signals to detect heartbeats and breathing people, and the first time it was used was after the earthquake in Haiti in 2010.


How FINDER works; An operator sets up the device in front of a rubble pile and hooks it up to a laptop. It takes about 30 seconds to scan the area with microwaves. It sends a signal equal to about one-thousandth of a cell phone's microwave output, NASA said. Any movement "reflects" back in the signal. Humans are identified by their unique heartbeat and breathing signals. The longer it takes for the signal to return, the farther away the body is. The system works whether people are awake or unconscious, NASA said.

 A person's chest moves about 1 centimeter from breathing and 1 millimeter from a heartbeat, these tiny movements are similar to detecting the very small changes of motion in a spacecraft.


This technology has been around for quite some time, however it's not until recently(or the earth quake in Haiti in 2010) that they started using it for this purpose. FINDER has been able to assist the other searching devices in finding surviving people, and has certainly helped saving lives.