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October 31, 1999

The Pentagon is testing a new mine-clearing system known as "Dog's Nose" in Bosnia on real minefields, and has found it to be a stunning success. The nuclear quadripole system sends out a wave of radio-frequency energy. This excites the nitrogen atoms in the explosives of land mines, which resonate and send back an energy wave that can be detected and analyzed by computers. The system can determine the specific type of explosive in a mine and its exact location, with very few false positive readings. The Pentagon wants it to be very clear that "nuclear" refers to the atomic structure and is totally unrelated to radioactivity or nuclear weapons.--Stephen V Cole