What is this thing?

January 4, 2007 4:06 PM

What is this thing?

This was plugged into a wall socket in the DC metro. It was just humming along. It looks like there's some kind of bell shaped hood on top. I'm guessing its a CO detector, bomb sniffer, or air freshener.

posted by damn dirty ape to technology (12 comments total)

Yeah it checks the air for biological agents... they popped up everywhere after the anthrax scares.
posted by dirtylittlemonkey at 4:21 PM on January 4, 2007

I've seen these in the DC metro for a while. I've always assumed they are bio- or chemical detectors. I recall a scare last year that led to the evacuation of the Pentagon station which the local news said was triggered when a chemical detector had a false alarm.

From this press release

"our system had begun to look at a chemical detection system well before the terrorist act of a year ago. As a result of the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack in 1995, we knew that we had to begin ‘thinking the unthinkable’ and get ourselves prepared.
In addition to implementing the first ever model of a chemical detection system in a subway, a system that has become a model for other transit agencies across the nation and around the world, we have implemented a number of initiatives designed to strengthen Metro’s safety and security for our customers and employees."

this pdf talks about monitoring the air in metro stations, although their web site shows machines that don't look very much like the ones I've seen.
posted by i love cheese at 4:26 PM on January 4, 2007

I was trying to find a picture to confirm. Check out Sandia National Labs, they seem to have contracted with WMATA and others for biological detectors.

Soooooooo glad I don't work in D.C. anymore.
posted by saffry at 4:29 PM on January 4, 2007

Does that mean if someone wants to sent nasty stuff into the DC subway system they just need to send a buddy down first to unplug the machine?
posted by croutonsupafreak at 4:40 PM on January 4, 2007

We had these in our office building to check for air quality. I think they were testing for mold, rather than biochemical weapons or whatever.
posted by lunalaguna at 4:45 PM on January 4, 2007

I've seen a similar unit used to check for airborne asbestos particles during the tear-out of an asbestos ceiling in a building that couldn't be shut down.
posted by ikkyu2 at 5:18 PM on January 4, 2007

I live two seconds away from that Metro stop, if you'd like me to go check on it and see if it is still there.
posted by Falconetti at 5:20 PM on January 4, 2007

That seems to be rediculously esay to render useless with false alarms.
posted by Mitheral at 6:00 PM on January 4, 2007

Does that mean if someone wants to sent nasty stuff into the DC subway system they just need to send a buddy down first to unplug the machine?

It has a battery.

Yes, it checks for biological and chemical weapons.

That seems to be rediculously esay to render useless with false alarms.

There is a guard watching it. He or she has a big gun and body armor on, even if you don't see him/her. They also switch them from station to station and have constant random dog sniffers. A false alarm would a waste of time, much better to go for the real thing.

Soooooooo glad I don't work in D.C. anymore.

DC Metro recirculates the air very quickly compared to other systems and the stations are much larger so the likelyhood of a successful bio/chem attack is much smaller than NY, Tokyo, London or elsewhere. I don't think Beijing's air ever gets recirculated. I was down there the other day and a trash can was blazing away, filling the tunnel with smoke and people were just going on with their business as usual.
posted by Pollomacho at 6:53 PM on January 4, 2007

man, that's funny.

i have nothing substantial to add except that i went to visit my parents over the holidays in DC and on monday we took the metro to the zoo, and walking past that very device i stopped for a few wondering what the hell it was, and thought it would make a good ask.me. but i didn't have a camera.

so cool on you for reading my mind, dda!
posted by sergeant sandwich at 12:11 AM on January 5, 2007

"A false alarm would a waste of time, much better to go for the real thing."

When I was living in DC a couple of years ago they had an accidental false alarm (caused by cleaning chemicals, IIRC) at the Pentagon station. Shut down my line for hours. I couldn't get to work until the afternoon, IIRC.

A series of those wouldn't be on the level of a bombing, but would be a major pain.

We also have these in the major NYC stations...Grand Central, etc.
posted by Jahaza at 4:45 AM on January 5, 2007

Nothing big to add, but I've seen them in Penn Station in NYC as well (usually in the big Amtrak waiting room). There isn't any specific guard watching them as I can ascertain, but the one I can recall specifically is about 20 feet from a Police/National Guard booth, so I guess that's good enough.
posted by jourman2 at 9:46 AM on January 5, 2007