Scientists have developed a new explosives detector with incredible sensitivity and a range of up to 100 meters that could save lives and thwart the efforts of terrorists.

The detector, developed by a team of researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is based on photo-induced acoustic spectroscopy (PIAS).

Using PIAS, the military and law enforcement agencies will have an instrument that is one-tenth the size of competing products.

At five pounds, it is one-fifth the weight and is about one-fifth the cost of the competition.