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US Company Develops New Technique to Detect Counterfeit Banknotes

A bank teller checks yuan banknotes. (AFP)
A bank teller checks yuan banknotes. (AFP)
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US Company Develops New Technique to Detect Counterfeit Banknotes

A bank teller checks yuan banknotes. (AFP)
A bank teller checks yuan banknotes. (AFP)

A US company has developed a new technique that allows the general public to detect counterfeit banknotes.

Studies say that during a typical cash transaction, people glance at banknotes for about a second. The US-based company Crane Currency has created a specially-designed micro-optic lens that focuses on an icon or image underneath; the technology makes an image appear in 3-D and animates it as the note is moved around.

According to the Tech Xplore website, Crane Currency has designed a number of banknotes incorporating 3-D micro-optic security features, including currency in Uzbekistan and an award-winning note in circulation on the Caribbean island of Aruba.

These have been in circulation for about a year and this study is the first to confirm the reliability of the new security feature from a user point of view, reported the German news agency (dpa).

The Tech Xplore website cited Jane Raymond, professor of Visual Cognition at the University of Birmingham, as saying: "Most people trust their banknotes, are usually in a hurry, and often handle cash in places where the lighting is bad. So, in many situations, it's not so hard to miss a fake banknote."

"Security features need to give people fast, easy-to-see signals that work under all sorts of lighting conditions," she added.

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Varieties

Philippines Shuts Schools, Scraps Flights as Typhoon Co-May Nears

Tens of thousands were evacuated across Manila earlier this week by floodwaters. Ted ALJIBE / AFP
Tens of thousands were evacuated across Manila earlier this week by floodwaters. Ted ALJIBE / AFP
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Philippines Shuts Schools, Scraps Flights as Typhoon Co-May Nears

Tens of thousands were evacuated across Manila earlier this week by floodwaters. Ted ALJIBE / AFP
Tens of thousands were evacuated across Manila earlier this week by floodwaters. Ted ALJIBE / AFP

The Philippines shut down schools and cancelled flights Thursday as torrential rains driven by a typhoon and a separate tropical storm pounded the country's northern island of Luzon.

Typhoon Co-May, upgraded from a tropical storm overnight, follows days of monsoon rains that have killed at least 12 people and left another eight missing across the archipelago since July 18, according to the national disaster agency.

With maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometers (75 miles) per hour, the typhoon was expected to make landfall on the west coast in either La Union or Ilocos Sur province by Friday morning, the country's weather service said.

Around 70 domestic and international flights have been cancelled due to the storms, the civil aviation authority said.

The government has announced the suspension of classes across Luzon for Thursday, said AFP.

Tens of thousands were evacuated across Manila earlier this week by floodwaters that swamped some neighborhoods in waist-deep water and left residents of nearby provinces stranded and in need of rescue by boat.

As of Thursday, at least several thousand people in Manila remained unable to return to their homes.

"We cannot send them home yet because it is still raining and some typhoons are still expected to affect the country," Ria Mei Pangilinan, a rescue coordinator in the capital, told AFP.

"There might be more (evacuees) if the rain does not stop."

Typhoon Co-May was about 210 kilometers off the country's west coast as of 11 am (0300 GMT).

Tropical Storm Francisco, meanwhile, was situated about 735 kilometers from the country's east coast and on a trajectory towards northern Taiwan.

The two storms are not believed to be on a collision path.