Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 airport security in the U.S. and abroad has been tightened significantly. Airport security has gone from something you never really thought about before that date, to one of the biggest concerns for many Americans and frequent travelers.

Current airport security takes advantage of metal detectors, X-ray machines and many other types of security to ensure no weapons are smuggled onto aircraft. British company ThruVision has developed a new T-ray camera that can see through clothes to detect objects hidden underneath. The camera is called the T5000 and is the first T-ray camera that can be used both indoors and outdoors.

The camera uses T-rays, or terahertz electromagnetic rays, to passively detect objects by reading the natural waves that everything produces. The camera is sensitive enough to identify objects underneath clothing from up to 80 feet away and is effective even while people are moving.

ThruVision claims its technology has roots in projects funded by the European Space Agency and STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory to study dying stars.

Dr Liz Towns-Andrews, Director of Knowledge Exchange at STFC said, "Astronomers use T-ray cameras that can see through dust and clouds in space, revealing what lies beyond. ThruVision uses them to see weapons hidden by clothing. This is a first-class example of how fundamental scientific research can be applied to benefit the whole of society."

The camera doesn’t show the actual form of the body so operators don’t get a voyeuristic glimpse at what people look like in the buff as they do with a security system in place in Amsterdam. Rather the camera produces a silhouette that would appear as a body shape with areas of different intensities.