With the new Bond movie out last weekend I've spent some time considering (ok...wishing I lived...) the life of a spy. The gadgets, the gizmos, the sweet ass -- its all part of the day to day for 007.
2 ongoing physics projects gave me a taste for spy tech this week....
1)Audio signals modulated through lasers. A friend and I put an audio mixer together that uses two orthogonal linearly polarized laser beams AM modulated with an i-pod to make a sort of mixer. A polarizer film gets put in the beam between the laser and photo-detector and as it is rotated the signals are mixed accordingly. You would love it DJ friend...
"Laser Mixer"
Why do I mention this? As the friend working on the mixer put it - its not a long shot to instead shoot the laser at a window and then listen in on someones conversation as the laser gets modulated by the shaking window pane. Apparently he has done so...and so has the CIA....and the KGB...and the Royal Whatever.... Very "007"
2)My other project involves a directional antenna. Today in the lab I successfully had it pick up cell calls. I then proceeded to point it out the window at people on the corner of 6th and River. Yes, I could see the prescense of their calls on the spectral analyzer. I hope nobody saw me point it at them - it looks like a potato/ ray gun... Although I couldn't listen in on their calls ( that would require a demod...and tricky code shit), I was still rather.... "Shaken, not stirred" with excitement...
P.S. The Big Guy is playing Golden Eye right now....how fitting....
2 comments:
So could i send the lasers into space and mix for ET?
Seriously i want to see this....
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