60秒科学:机场安检:小心故意走私（在线收听）

美国佛罗里达州一国际机场与英国伦敦国际机场近日爆出安检丑闻，由于其安检设施形同虚设，致使一军火狂人从美 国走私了大量枪支进英国。据悉，从美佛罗里达州圣弗德机场起飞至英国的所有航班，乘客及其行李都不用过安检门，这使枪 支或毒品走私在这条航线上畅通无阻。

Shhh, keep this podcast a secret. Because new research points to a possible blind spot in airport security screening: it may be easier to sneak something dangerous past security–a box cutter, for example–by also including an obvious and innocuous banned object, like a water bottle, into the mix as a distraction.

Scientists recruited college students to find targets on a computer display. Their task: search for lines that formed a T amidst other non-T lines in 10 different experiments. Sometimes the Ts were easy to find, sometimes they were more hidden. When the easy and tough ones appeared with equal frequency, the students found both on the same screen.

When the easy T’s appeared two to three times more frequently, the students were more likely to miss the tough ones. But when the students were given extra time, lessening the pressure, they were more able to find both targets almost as quickly.

The study [Mathias Fleck et al., Journal of Experimental Psychology] suggests that actual professional screeners need to be just as vigilant in their attention after finding a first piece of contraband in a given bag. And keeping their stress levels as low as possible should help their performance.