DHS Achieves Lobster-Like X-Ray Vision

In its valiant quest to protect our borders, the Department of Homeland Security is developing new technology to catch all those creepy foreigners lurking around. The ideal device would have X-ray vision to detect as much contraband as possible—so where else to turn for inspiration than the lobster?

Described in a recent DHS Science & Technology Snapshots newsletter (in an article entitled "Eye of the Lobster"), the handheld device, called the LEXID (Lobster Eye X-ray Imaging Device), can use X-rays to see through walls, wood, concrete, earth, and steel—just like lobsters can. The lead scientist insists the LEXID is "modeled exactly after the lobster," and is designed to catch "the sneaky guys that don't like us."