Watch a demonstration of how advanced heartbeat detection technology is used in disaster response training.
Emergency workers were able to identify four men who'd been trapped in Nepal's rubble—and then save them—thanks to a novel technology: advanced heartbeat detection.
The recent rescues represent the first ever real-world use of advanced sensing technology developed by NASA and the Department of Homeland Security.
Two prototype units of that system, called Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response (FINDER), were sent to Nepal in the days following the April 25 earthquake. (Read about how Nepal could be rebuild for the next earthquake.)
“For me as the developer of the technology, it was like sending a child off to college,” says Jim Lux, who manages the project at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.
About the size of a
DON'T MISS THE REST OF THIS STORY!
Create a free account to continue and get unlimited access to hundreds of Nat Geo articles, plus newsletters.
