Dolphins' Hunting Tactics Inspire New Radar System to Detect Hidden Threats

Dolphins may have given researchers a new way to detect hidden threats. Inspired by the way dolphins hunt using bubble nets, scientists have developed a new kind of radar that can detect hidden surveillance equipment and explosives.

The new radar system is called the twin inverted pulse radar (TWIPR). It can distinguish "true" targets, such as certain types of electronic circuits that may be used in explosive or espionage devices, from "clutter." This clutter can include things like pipes, drink cans or even nails that can be mistaken for a genuine target by traditional radar and metal detectors.

Yet in order to create TWIPR, the researchers had to employ a unique sonar concept called twin inverted pulse sonar (TWIPS). This sonar exploits the natural abilities of dolphins to process their sonar signals to distinguish between targets and clutter in bubbly water. Some dolphins have been seen blowing "bubble nets" around schools of fish, which causes the fish to cluster together. If their sonar could not differentiate between these bubbles and the fish, the dolphins would have a hard time with hunting.

So how does TWIPS work? It uses a signal consisting of two pulses in quick succession, one identical to the other, but phase inverted. TWIPS can enhance linear scatter from a target while simultaneously suppressing nonlinear scattering from oceanic bubbles. The researchers then applied the TWIPS method to electromagnetic waves. After, they applied TWIPR radar pulses to a target to distinguish it from clutter.

"As with TWIPS, the TWIPR method distinguishes linear scatterers from nonlinear ones," said Tim Leighton, one of the researchers, in a news release. "However, in scenarios for which TWIPS was designed, the clutter scatters nonlinearly and the target linearly--while in situations using TWIPR, these properties are reversed."

The new radar could help researchers detect hidden threats. In addition, it could allow scientists to even locate buried catastrophe victims. The findings could be huge for applications that range from magnetic resonance imaging to light detection to explosive detection.

The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society A.