Can a quantum sensor detect your heartbeat from 60 km away?

Overview

This episode investigates the plausibility of the CIA's rumored Ghost Murmur technology, which allegedly uses quantum sensors to detect heartbeats from kilometers away. The discussion delves into the science of biomagnetism, the capabilities of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) diamonds, and the potential for misinformation in intelligence operations.

Notable Quotes

- The New York Post is notoriously a very good place for amusing fiction. – Brad Roth, on the credibility of the Ghost Murmur story.

- The idea of fooling your enemy, particularly when you have some vulnerability to protect, goes back thousands of years. – Douglas London, on the use of deception in intelligence.

- You’d need a system 18 orders of magnitude more sensitive than diamond NV sensors to detect a heartbeat from kilometers away. – Brad Roth, on the technological challenges of Ghost Murmur.

🫀 The Science of Heartbeat Detection

- The human heart generates a magnetic field of 50–100 picoTeslas, the strongest in the body but still a million times weaker than Earth's magnetic field.

- Early magnetometers like SQUIDs (superconducting quantum interference devices) could detect weak magnetic fields but required shielded environments, making them impractical for field use.

- NV diamonds, synthetic diamonds with nitrogen-vacancy defects, emerged as a promising alternative due to their ability to operate at room temperature and detect magnetic fields with high sensitivity.

💎 How NV Diamonds Work

- NV centers in diamonds trap unpaired electrons, whose spin states are sensitive to external magnetic fields.

- By shining light on these diamonds and measuring the absorption of specific microwave wavelengths, researchers can infer the strength of the magnetic field.

- While NV diamonds have been used to detect neuron activity and rat heartbeats in controlled lab settings, their sensitivity is far from what would be required to detect human heartbeats from kilometers away.

🕵️‍♂️ Intelligence and Deception

- Former CIA officer Douglas London noted that leveraging advanced technology aligns with the CIA's mission, but he expressed skepticism about the Ghost Murmur claim.

- Historical examples, like the British WWII myth about carrots improving night vision, illustrate how intelligence agencies use misinformation to mislead adversaries.

- The secrecy surrounding NV diamond research, including widespread use of NDAs, adds intrigue but does not confirm the existence of Ghost Murmur.

📉 The Limits of Ghost Murmur

- The magnetic field of a human heart would weaken exponentially with distance, dropping to undetectable levels (10^-30 Tesla) at 50–100 kilometers.

- Current magnetometers, even in shielded environments, can only detect fields as weak as 10^-15 Tesla, making the rumored technology implausible.

- Environmental noise, such as magnetic fields from animals, vehicles, and drones, would further complicate detection.

🌍 Alternative Applications of NV Diamonds

- NV diamonds could be used for quantum navigation by mapping Earth's magnetic field, offering a GPS-independent solution in environments prone to GPS jamming or spoofing.

- While heartbeat detection at long distances remains unlikely, the military potential of NV diamonds in other areas is significant.