U.S. physicists have created sees through clothing single still camera,

Scientists from the University of Rice (USA) have developed a prototype camera to shoot people and objects in the terahertz range. It is expected that the invention will find use in systems security, as well as in medicine.

Terahertz radiation - electromagnetic waves with a frequency of several teragerts (1TGts = 1012 oscillations per second) took an intermediate position between thermal and microwave radiation. Its practical value - a combination pronikayuschey ability to safety.

Terahertz camera has been produced in the run - but existing models have several drawbacks. First of all, terahertz radiation coexists with the heat, and because the receiver will inevitably registers and thermal noise (with the same problem faced and conventional cameras). The increase in the size of the matrix and their cooling somewhat relieve the problem, but it significantly increases the cost of cameras, detectors were first vymorazhivat to the temperature of liquid nitrogen and below.

The cell from Rice University, these shortcomings was able to partially overcome by replacing the matrix on a single photocell. Scanning the object is made pointwise, a specially developed mathematical algorithm allows for a randomly selected set of points to restore the picture entirely without significant loss in quality (the site of one of the authors are available examples of the use of an algorithm for ordinary photos).

Until the new camera will still occupies part of the laboratory, but scientists have developed a way to drastically reduce it. Used in the prototype to highlight certain points of the image system of copper screens with holes microchips will be replaced with mirrors.