Researchers have recently discovered a new radar technique that could potentially be used to find things like improvised explosive devices (IEDs) – and was inspired by dolphins!
The author of the new research, Timothy Leighton, explained that he started wondering how dolphins could use their sonar abilities to track fish with all of the “noise” of the ocean around them. After testing, he found that “two pulses in quick succession, one identical to the other but phase inverted” could differentiate between objects even when the most advanced man-made sonar couldn’t. So, he decided to apply that to a new style of radar!
It’s called twin inverted pulse radar, or TWIPR, and sends two identical electromagnetic waves at inverted phases (meaning they’re opposite of each other). It’s then able to determine semiconductors from other objects by the way each scatters the waves when they make contact. Sounds pretty awesome, and could be used for a lot of different things in the future!