This article focuses on engineers who are making unique contributions behind the headlines of the World Trade Center disaster. To do the job, engineers at the site had been using technology created by distant colleagues. Excavators, specialized vehicles, and robots are navigating the area, and teams of workers and technologists are slowly removing the concrete and steel shards of the fallen buildings. Robots moved on crawler tracks to carry video and infrared cameras into the ruins. Some worked at the ends of tethers as they dragged power and communications links behind them. High-flashpoint fuels are being discussed as a way of mitigating the damage if all else fails. Additives, for instance, could preclude violent explosions, but they are also likely to make the fuels less efficient. There are also highly sensitive sensors that can detect minute quantities of substances such as explosives, and improved 3D luggage-screening technologies to help airport personnel interpret what they see.

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