An NII machine in Nogales, AZ. (Image source)

There's bound to be a lot of discussion of the Biden-Trump presidential debates last night, but I want to skip all the political prognostication and talk about the real issue: fentanyl-detecting machines.

Joe Biden says:

And I wanted to make sure we use the machinery that can detect fentanyl, these big machines that roll over everything that comes across the border, and it costs a lot of money. That was part of this deal we put together, this bipartisan deal.

More fentanyl machines, were able to detect drugs, more numbers of agents, more numbers of all the people at the border. And when we had that deal done, he went – he called his Republican colleagues said don’t do it. It's going to hurt me politically.

He never argued. It's not a good bill. It's a really good bill. We need [...]

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Outline:

(01:50) What's Up With Fentanyl-Detecting Machines?

(02:52) Could an X-ray machine really detect fentanyl inside a car?

(06:02) But I Wanted Remote Chemical Compound Detection!

(07:31) Spectroscopy

(09:47) Ok, That's Light. What About Sound? Or Electricity?

(11:34) Dude, Where's My Tricorder?

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First published:
June 28th, 2024

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/TzwMfRArgsNscHocX/the-incredible-fentanyl-detecting-machine

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

“The Incredible Fentanyl-Detecting Machine” by sarahconstantin

LessWrong (30+ Karma)