I asked something similar in the Science forum here...
Generally only need to fill in some gaps for a possible short-story plot. The main idea is that someone is operating (not certain) a robotic/machine object which attacks other humans and virtually erases all trace of the victim, yet it leaves behind any bank-notes intact (cause the end-game was to rob them).
So, assuming the robotic enemy can have sensors which identify elements such as the rare earth 'Europium' found in banknotes, and assuming (?) the latter is plausibly spread out enough in the banknote to cause the robot to not attack any of it, anyone got an idea how such a sensor would work?
Ie:
Would the censor have to use UVC (UV lighting, which reveals the red glow of the europium to a human eye), and have some built-in system to then prevent attack on a radius of that europium
OR
would it be more likely/doable that the robot just has a sensor that identifies the europium without any use of UVC at all, eg through identifying its chemical properties directly?
The idea is that the europium is not going to exist in other parts of the victim's clothing, nor his/her skin, so only the banknotes would remain. Which is why i could not model this on less rare stuff the banknotes have (eg fibers also found on cloth, etc).
PS: trust me, this is for a story. I am not making any such thing. And a recent disappearence in this city is not tied to that either.
Generally only need to fill in some gaps for a possible short-story plot. The main idea is that someone is operating (not certain) a robotic/machine object which attacks other humans and virtually erases all trace of the victim, yet it leaves behind any bank-notes intact (cause the end-game was to rob them).
So, assuming the robotic enemy can have sensors which identify elements such as the rare earth 'Europium' found in banknotes, and assuming (?) the latter is plausibly spread out enough in the banknote to cause the robot to not attack any of it, anyone got an idea how such a sensor would work?
Ie:
Would the censor have to use UVC (UV lighting, which reveals the red glow of the europium to a human eye), and have some built-in system to then prevent attack on a radius of that europium
OR
would it be more likely/doable that the robot just has a sensor that identifies the europium without any use of UVC at all, eg through identifying its chemical properties directly?
The idea is that the europium is not going to exist in other parts of the victim's clothing, nor his/her skin, so only the banknotes would remain. Which is why i could not model this on less rare stuff the banknotes have (eg fibers also found on cloth, etc).
PS: trust me, this is for a story. I am not making any such thing. And a recent disappearence in this city is not tied to that either.