National Geographic Channel's 'Explorer: Outsmarting Terror' Highlights the Crucial New High-Tech Tactics Intended to Protect Us

National Geographic Channel's 'Explorer: Outsmarting Terror' Highlights the Crucial New High-Tech Tactics Intended to Protect Us

Will Increasingly Sophisticated Anti-Terror Technologies Be The Key To Keeping Us Safe?

WASHINGTON, May 17 /PRNewswire/ -- They are an enemy that is elusive and deadly, resilient and implacable. Today's terrorists have incited fear in millions of people by striking where we live, shop, commute, study or work. But can ingenuity and science protect us from an enemy capable of deploying an extreme range of weapons, from low-tech explosives to guided missiles? Will a new generation of defensive technologies be able to outmaneuver terrorists who strive to strike without warning? National Geographic Channel's "Explorer" examines these questions as it investigates the increasingly sophisticated responses to countering terror.

Premiering Wednesday, May 31, at 9 p.m. ET/PT, "Explorer: Outsmarting Terror" shows viewers the scientific technologies being developed to combat terror head-on. From jetliners that repel heat-seeking missiles, to devices that rescue survivors from atop skyscrapers, to robots that detect nuclear weapons, counterterrorism experts are fastidiously creating smart new technological approaches to stay one step ahead of the enemy. "Explorer" reports on the advanced technology at the heart of the strategy to successfully track, combat and defeat terrorists -- or protect us even after they strike.

The difficulty of fighting terrorism is compounded by an enemy that often operates without geographical boundaries or according to the rules of military engagement. Terrorists often seek to achieve shock and drama, deploying premeditated attacks aimed at poorly defended "soft targets" such as office buildings, mass transportation, shopping centers and even schools. And unfortunately, they too often succeed. Since 2001, terrorists have killed more than 24,000 people around the globe.

"To fight terrorism, you need to think outside the box," says Boaz Ganor, executive director for The International Policy Institute for Counterterrorism in Israel. "You need to find new tactics, new measures and always try to be one step ahead, one step before the terrorists themselves."

"Explorer: Outsmarting Terror" highlights these new tactics, starting with airport security. After passenger airplanes were used as weapons on September 11, 2001, airports have upgraded security procedures that utilize X- ray machines and scanners. But these tools are not always sophisticated enough to satisfy experts. "Explorer" demonstrates the latest inventions in airport security, including the space-age "Tadar," which can detect threatening objects hidden on a person, and "Sentinel II," which can sniff out 40 different types of chemical substances. Inventors have also perfected a sophisticated system that detects missiles targeted at aircraft and creates a protective bubble of radar -- setting off flares to confuse a heat-seeking missile's guidance system.

Anti-terror experts featured in "Explorer: Outsmarting Terror" also provide insight into a range of counterterrorism and life-saving inventions, including robots that can sense deadly toxins, a car bomb detector that "sees" through metal and a personal escape device called the Spider, designed to save people trapped inside a building up to 50 stories high.

"Explorer: Outsmarting Terror" details how infrastructure experts are embracing new technologies to help make buildings terrorproof. Structural engineers such as Gil Hegemier are focusing on reducing the potential for a catastrophic building collapse. In the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, for example, most of the fatalities were caused by the collapse of the building, not the initial explosion. Hegemier is using a blast simulator to test the integrity of buildings and better understand both how structures fail and how to protect them, so that architects can more aptly design new blast-resistant buildings and strengthen existing structures.

In addition, building engineers are working to fortify and bolster walls with polymer coatings. Polymer hardens into a protective, elastic layer that makes cement walls more flexible. In some cases, half a ton of TNT can't bring down a polymer-treated wall - a reason why the Pentagon is using it to coat its walls.

"Explorer" also examines the latest strategies in taking the fight to the terrorists, including new generations of weapons that can help the military monitor and capture terrorists. This new arsenal includes an aerial camera that can scope out a terrorist camp, seeing its exact layout in real time, and high-tech guns that can shoot around corners during combat.

Since 9/11 and other recent terrorist attacks around the world, inventors have raced to vastly improve our defenses against terror. With an unknown tomorrow, one thing is certain -- technology is an essential weapon in our war to outsmart terror.

"Explorer" is produced for the National Geographic Channel by National Geographic Television & Film. Executive producer is Kathleen Cromley. For "Outsmarting Terror," Liane Thompson is producer; Ariel Semmel, Tracy Baumgardner and Patrice Shannon are editors; Charles Poe and Michael Whinship are writers. For NGC, senior vice president of production is Michael Cascio; executive in charge of production is John Ford.

Based at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., the National Geographic Channel (NGC) is a joint venture between National Geographic Television & Film (NGT&F) and Fox Cable Networks. Since launching in January 2001, NGC initially earned some of the fastest distribution growth in the history of cable and more recently the fastest ratings growth in television. The network celebrated its fifth anniversary January 2006 with the launch of NGC HD, which provides the spectacular imagery that National Geographic is known for in stunning high definition. NGC has carriage with all of the nation's major cable and satellite television providers, making it currently available to 59 million homes. For more information, please visit http://www.nationalgeographic.com/channel.

Web site: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/channel

Source: National Geographic Channel

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