Now, airport scanner can reveal what’s in your bottles

LONDON - Carrying your own drinks on board planes would be possible once again-thanks to a new airport scanner developed by British scientists that can differentiate between water and liquid explosives.

Manufacturers have been given an official EU approval to use the new generation of X-ray machines at all European airports.

The machines could be in place by April and would end the confusion surrounding liquid bans that add to delays for millions of British holidaymakers.

The ban on liquids in hand luggage was imposed in August 2006 after police uncovered a plot to destroy at least seven planes using chemicals hidden in soft drinks bottles.

Kromek, a spin-off company from Durham University, has created the new scanner.

“The best analogy is that compared to conventional X-ray scanners, this is the difference between seeing an object in black and white and seeing it in colour,” the Daily Mail quoted Arnab Basu of Kromek, as saying.

“You just put a bottle in the scanner and it will show whether it is water or a chemical explosive,” he added.

The company’s scanners can also read the barcode on a bottle of liquid in a suitcase and then check to see whether the contents have been tampered with by referring to a vast database of different drinks. (ANI)