Microscopic Worms Could Sniff Out Explosives

From Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now:

Bomb squads have long used metal detectors, X-ray machines and dogs to uncover threats. Without them, authorities may not have intercepted some of the thirteen homemade explosives that froze Greece's outgoing mail earlier this week. But soon they may find a new tool in their quest to find the bad guys and their bombs: microscopic worms. In a paper published last month, researchers at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization described the effectiveness of Caenorhabditis elegans, a millimeter long, mud-loving nematode, in detecting chemicals associated with explosives. If they're right, bomb detection could get cheaper and easier. But not everyone is convinced that they are.

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