A modern dimension of airport control – through smell

Retinal scans or fingerprints may soon become obsolete. It turns out that natural body odor is a surprisingly accurate biometric identifier. According to a study by a team of Spanish scientists, scent could change the way security checkpoints operate. A team from the Technical University of Madrid is making progress developing a new biometric technique that will identify people through their own body odor . Researchers have presented data confirming that natural body odor can recognize people with 85% accuracy . This means that simply placing a "sniffing" device near someone is enough to confirm their identity. No mess, no ink, no fingerprints. Importantly, this procedure is not as invasive as retinal scanning and is significantly more accurate than facial recognition scanners. Given this discovery, we may soon no longer need ID cards, passports, or driver's licenses at airports or border crossings. The only thing we'll have to undergo is a scent check that will verify identity and detect any hazardous materials a person may be carrying. Smell verification isn't a new idea. Just recall how, for centuries, sniffer dogs were used to sniff out people based on their scent. Now, this capability can be transferred to airports. The difference is that machines will handle the job.