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定向能源束從上空掃描雷區，飛機里面的分光鏡“讀出”數據，并記錄下地雷周圍細菌的具體位置。然后結合使用激光技術和定向能源束，從天空就可以起爆地雷。這樣，就不再需要人和動物去干尋找和起爆地雷的高危險性工作了。
Bacteria1) Could Help Detect Mines2)
An aircraft flies over a no man's land sown with land mines，scanning it with an energy beam that pinpoints each mine and records its location．That done，the aircraft flies over again，this time detonating3) each mine with a hit from a directed energy beam．
That is the future of land－mine location and destruction as envisioned by two scientists，Hudgins and Krock，who work at the Arm strong Laboratories at Brooks Air Force Base near San Antonio．
They contend that land mines could be “sniffed out” by artificial means，in the same way bombs can be sniffed out by dogs．When a land mine is buried，Krock said，its chemical contents alter the soil very soon around it，resulting in a buildup of bacteria．He is to develop a sensor to substitute for the olfactory4) abilities of dogs．
A directed energy beam would scan the area from above．Inside the aircraft，a spectroscope5) would “read” the data and record where the bacteria around land mines is located．Then，combining laser technology and directed energy beam，the mines would be detonated from the sky，and no people or animals would be needed to perform the high risk jobs of finding and destroying them．
Using soil samples collected from around land mines found in Bosnia，Krock detected bacteria that he thinks would be a reliable identifier of land mines．Hudgins said the E－8 Joint STARS aircraft was a good aircraft for detecting the land mines．The Joint STA RS is a flying radar station designed to locate and target enemy ground forces．An official of the aircraft company said he thought outfitting the aircraft to detect land mines was doable6)．But the company could do nothing without direction，and a contract from the Air Force．
Forming a partnership with a company，the two scientists are developing the technology，which，however，has not been ratified7) by the military authorities and other agencies8)．
