Bad vibes

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which operates airport security checkpoints in the United States, is spending upward of US $7 million a year trying to develop technology that can detect the evil intent of the terrorists among us. Yes, you read that correctly: It is intended to read the minds of suspicious peoples. Dozens of researchers across the country are in the middle of a five-year program contracted primarily to the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, in Cambridge, Mass. They've developed a psychophysiological theory of "malintent"-basically, a hodgepodge of behaviorism and biometrics according to which physiological changes can give away a terrorist's intention to do immediate harm. So far, they've spent $20 million on biometric research, sensors, and a series of tests and demonstrations.