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Comment by danielnicollet | Hacker News Reader

"This is to see that you don't have heavy metals on you or something that looks suspicious," said Sela.

Sorry but what do heavy metals have to do with airport security? is this just typo or have I completely lost my understanding of basic explosives chemistry and other terror related topics?

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I'd though that, for example, guns are quite often made of heavy metals, don't they?

I don't think you have a real understanding of terror related topics as it applies to Israel. In an area of the world where getting ak47's is easy as heck - you can go a few countries away from Israel and buy them at open air markets - it makes a lot of sense to make sure no one is carrying guns and other weapons made with heavy metals into your airport.

The security is made of layers - just because they are checking for heavy metals doesn't mean that they don't know anything about (or are ignoring) plastic explosives or ceramic guns.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_metal_(chemistry)

I've always though that heavy metals mean stuff like uranium and lead...

Exactly nosse! I meant "heavy metals" versus "metal". The latter makes sense. The former doesn't. I am sure you can hurt people with manganese for instance, but a gun would make more sense, no?

This is a check for knives/guns/bullets, right?

I've always wondered re knives - couldn't you just take on carefully pre-fractured plastic that you snapped once on board?

No, you'd take a ceramic knife most likely. Much sharper, and still wouldn't be detected. I suspect the test is more for guns than knives.

Unless you take a homemade* ceramic knife through security, it would be spotted just like any other metal object [1].

* Good luck with that.

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFnT5INymiY#t=6m40s

Haven't planes been hijacked with Stanley knives (or box cutters or whatever Americans call them)? And if the response to that is locking the cockpit, then what will guns do differently? (Shoot the windows? Could they get the exit row and open the emergency door?) Surely, now, the response to either would be to rush the assailant?

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