Space camera blazes new terahertz trails  Paris, 11 Feb 2003
New imaging technology came to life when ESA's StarTiger team
captured the world's first terahertz picture of a human hand.
"When we started last June we set an ambitious goal: to build in
four months the first compact submillimetre-wave imager with
near real time image capturing using state-of-the-art micro-
machining technology," said Peter de Maagt, ESA's StarTiger
Project Manager, "we reached this goal when the first terahertz
images were taken in September."  This breakthrough in terahertz
imaging opens up the possibility for a new generation of
applications, not only related to space but also in many non-
space fields, including medicine, pharmaceuticals, security and
aeronautics.  StarTiger is a new approach for conducting
research and development (R&amp;D) launched last year by ESA.
The concept is to bring together a small group of highly
motivated researchers, grant them full access to laboratory and
production facilities, remove all admini