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Non-Fiction
Spy-Fi
By Brittany, Student Editor-in-Chief
Get ready to dive into a world of special technology that has won wars and launched gadgetry into a new century! Gizmos and gadgets have been leading top-secret agents to clues and victory for decades; here are some fun facts on just a few of the technologies CIA and FBI agents may use!
Now, even with all this gadgetry, the CIA and FBI still rely heavily on using their minds, imaginations, and problem solving skills to crack the toughest cases. They learn to be resourceful and use the people and everyday objects around them, not a pen that turns into a submarine piloted by automated hamsters. Technology is great, but robots can’t win wars, entirely. Sometimes it’s not what you can’t see, like confusing codes and allusive hints, but it’s what you can see. James Bond may have been well stocked with an arsenal of gadgets, yet perplexing cases have actually been cracked by tracking humble objects like sunglasses, pen inks, and soda cans!
GPSGlobal Positioning Satellites have aided countless agents and saved many lives over the years. By giving directions with pinpoint accuracy to locations that may be hard to locate on the map, GPS’s often send researchers, rescue squads, and spies in the direction they need to be going. It works like this: A receiver sends a message to space, where it registers with a satellite and the new information is bounced back to the receiver at the speed of light through space! This information is not only accurate, but it’s very up-to-date. GPS’s were standard use in top-secret operations long before they were pointing the wayward traveler to the nearest Taco Bell.
Night Vision Goggles Everyone would like to see better in the dark, but since using a night-light in the dark is a little more convenient at home than where spies work, a “Night Vision Device” (NVD) is the tool of choice. Handheld, overhead, and mountable NVD’s have been frequently used by the army and acts of espionage. Because nobody can see in the dark without a light, NVD’s don’t use light; they make pictures by “seeing” heat. A three dimensional image can be made in only fractions of a second, giving spies a chance to “see” what they need to see long before it sees them.
Rover, is that you? Yup. Even dogs (with their amazing sniffing snouts!) have a place in the FBI. With a sniffer nearly 50 times strong than that of a human, a dog’s nose certainly...er...knows the right direction to point their spy buddy during secret missions and security searches.
P.S.
So what can we conclude? Gadgets and gizmos have saved hundreds of lives and helped people live better, not to mention that they’ve put the United States of America on the forefront of common technology, like laptops and cell phones. And even with lasers and rockets, the world’s top protective agencies and spies still rely on their imaginations and the facts as the most effective spy-fi tools.
Last but not least, there’s nothing saying that these gadgets are the height of technology; they may only be the beginning of more futuristic and sophisticated gear that will challenge the minds of citizens, scientists, and criminals around the globe. Who knows? You could be the next inventor of an amazing gizmo that will help us look into the future of spy-fi gear.
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