Bomb-sniffing dogs can now find bombs before they are even bombs

TSA wants to heighten bomb-sniffing dog senses.
(Image credit: EDUARDO MUNOZ/AFP/Getty Images)

While you're busy waiting in hour-long lines for your turn in the TSA's X-ray machine this summer, hundreds of pups will have their noses to the ground trying to find bombs before they're even constructed.

As terrorists increasingly adapt new measures to get around security — like enclosing explosives in caulk to prevent vapors from reaching dogs' noses — the TSA is teaching canine teams not just how to detect the individual ingredients that make a bomb, but how to identify the presence of potentially dangerous combinations of chemicals, The New York Times reports.

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.