ATMS THAT FIGHT BACK

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V17 2014 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 17, Number 17, April 20, 2014, Article 27

This article discusses an interesting method of protecting ATMs from break-ins. Perhaps this will extend to safes and other high-profile lockboxes. -Editor

Fancy an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) that punches the burglar in the nose if he tries to break it open?

Well, not a punch exactly, but ATMs would soon be armed with a mechanism that would spray hot foam in the face of the attacker if he tries to force it open.

Researchers at ETH University in Zurich have developed a special film that triggers an intense reaction when destroyed.

“This could be used anywhere you find things that shouldn’t be touched,” said Wendelin Jan Stark, a professor at ETH’s department of chemistry and applied biosciences.

Stark and his team developed a self-defending surface composed of several sandwich-like layers of plastic. If the surface is damaged, hot foam is sprayed in the face of the attacker.

The researchers used plastic films with a honeycomb structure for their self-defending surface. The hollow spaces are separately filled with two chemicals: hydrogen peroxide or manganese dioxide.

The two separate films are then stuck on top of each another. A layer of clear lacquer separates the two films filled with the different chemicals. When subjected to an impact, the interlayer is destroyed, causing the hydrogen peroxide and manganese dioxide to mix.

This triggers a violent reaction that produces water vapour, oxygen and heat. The temperature of the foam reaches 80 degrees.

The newly developed film may be particularly well suited to protecting ATMs or cash transports, said the researchers.

The idea originates from a beetle that uses a gas explosion to fend off attackers.

Its head and pronotum are usually rusty red, and its abdomen blue or shiny green: the bombardier beetle is approximately one centimetre long and common to Central Europe. At first glance, it appears harmless, but it possesses what is surely the most aggressive chemical defence system in nature. When threatened, the bombardier beetle releases a caustic spray, accompanied by a popping sound. This spray can kill ants or scare off frogs. The beetle produces the explosive agent itself when needed. Two separately stored chemicals are mixed in a reaction chamber in the beetle's abdomen. An explosion is triggered with the help of catalytic enzymes.

“When you see how elegantly nature solves problems, you realise how deadlocked the world of technology often is,” says Wendelin Jan Stark, a professor from the ETH Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences.

To read the complete article, see: The ATM strikes back (www.ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2014/04/der-bancomat-schlaegt-zurueck.html)

Wayne Homren, Editor