IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2017 - 82

continue in prison. As far as we know, no reparations
have been demanded either from the manufacturer or
from the seller, and no public inquiry into the purchase
has been initiated.
Using this case, it has been argued [33] that the low
impact of Mexican science in government and policy
circles is also due to the self-censorship of its scientific community. Proactive, more politically involved scientific institutions could act as safeguards against
these kind of fraudulent (non)technologies. The
GT200 affair illustrates the cost to developing countries of not having a strong scientific community willing and capable of influencing governmental decision
making, and illustrates the cost to their societies of
the lack of scientific culture that could allow decision
makers to differentiate skillful sales demonstrations
from controlled scientific experiments. Science is not
a luxury for developing countries; their governments
and societies should rely on science.

Acknowledgment
The authors are grateful to the Mexican Academy of Sciences and in particular, to its former president, Dr. Arturo
Menchaca, and its Executive Secretary, Dr. Renata Villalba-Cohen, for allowing us the use of their installations
and for their support before and during the test. This
work was partially supported by DGAPA-UNAM under
grants nos. IN20909, IN108413, and IN113016 (WLM).

Author Information
W. Luis Mochán is with the Instituto de Ciencias Físicas,
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado
Postal 48-3, 62251 Cuernavaca, Morelos, México. Email:
mochan@fis.unam.mx.
A. Ramirez-Solis is with the Departamento de Física,
Centro de Investigación en Ciencias, IICBA, Universidad
Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Mexico. Email: alex@
uaem.mx.

References

[1] Global Technical, "Remote substance detection," GT200 Brochure; http://bit.ly/2aLdXzE, accessed Apr. 2, 2017.
[2] A. Tonini, personal communication.
[3] Blog de Luis Mochán, "IFAI gt200 documents," Instituto de Ciencias Fisicas, Aug. 2, 2016; http://bit.ly/2aLjkiw.
[4] Charles L. Rhykerd, David W. Hannum, Dale W. Murray, and John
E. Parmeter, Guide for the Selection of Commercial Explosives
Detection Systems for Law Enforcement Applications (National
Institute of Justice (NIJ) Guide 100-99, 1999).
[5] Anonymous, A Brief History of Fraudulent Detectors 1990-?,
2011; http://bit.ly/je4fC7.
[6] Technical Data on the Operation of the GT200, from a judicial
declaration from which identifying information has been erased,
2011; http://bit.ly/jQuQDk (Spanish).

82

[7] W.L. Mochán Backal, "Analysis of the technical data on the operation of the GT-200," 2011; http://bit.ly/lCOOmY (Spanish).
[8] L. Castellanos, "The nightmare of those pointed out by the "Devils Ouija," El Universal, Oct. 10, 2011; http://bit.ly/nPcoEB (Spanish).
[9] W.L. Mochán, "Science, pseudoscience and security," speech
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[10] The GT200 in the Senate (VIDEO), Congress Channel (15
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[11] Resolution Urging the Executive Branch is Urged to... ...about
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[14] W.L. Mochán Backal, "At first I didn't believe either," Unión de
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Morelos, pp. 40-41, Dec. 3, 2012; http://bit.ly/1VdK6RM (Spanish).
[16] M. Miranda Salgado, "Resolution regarding the acquisition
and operation of the GT200 molecular detectors," Parliamentary
Gazette, 3983-VI, Mar. 18, 2014; http://bit.ly/2aBQazQ (Spanish).
[17] General Recommendation 19 of the National Committee for
Human Rights, México, Aug. 5, 2011; http://bit.ly/2atU9iM (Spanish).
[18] J. Jesús Lemus, "The Devils Ouija Board," Reporte Índigo, Jul.
28, 2015; http://bit.ly/2aJg4k1 (Spanish).
[19] R. Monreal Ávila, Resolution on the GT200 Molecular Detector, Mexican Senate, Dec. 6, 2011; http://bit.ly/2aD1y2o (Spanish).
[20] D. Monreal Avila, Fraud in the Acquisition of the GT200
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[21] Parliamentary Gazette, Mar. 18, 2014; http://bit.ly/2b3MqaU
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[22] "Five charged by Overseas Anti Corruption Unit (OACU)," City
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[23] "Five more charged over 'bogus' bomb detectors," BBC News,
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[24] I. Alzaga, "Attorney General discards detectors; the Army
Vought 742," Milenio, Dec. 22, 2012; http://bit.ly/2aJtX1F (Spanish).
[25] "Physicists prove "dowsing" bomb detectors useless in double
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[26] J. Miranda, "The victim that defeated the Devil's Ouija," El Universal, July 17, 2013; http://eluni.mx/2aWWVhF (Spanish).
[27] L. Castellanos, "Scientist invites Anguiano to test the Ouija," El
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[28] A. Quiles, "Colima will sue for Ouija," El Universal, Aug. 25,
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[29] M. Muédano, "Device is not accurate: Government," El Universal, Jul. 18, 2013; http://eluni.mx/2auOJkU (Spanish).
[30] "The "Devil's Ouija" is not used anymore in México: Ministry of the Interior," Aristegui Noticias, Aug. 22, 2013; http://bit
.ly/2b1ZQXW (Spanish).
[31] "State Attorney Raciel corrects functionary from the Ministry of
the Interior," El Péndulo de Chiapas, Aug. 23, 2013 (Spanish).
[32] K. Gilsinan, "Why Is Iraq still using fake bomb detectors?," The
Atlantic, July 6, 2016; http://theatln.tc/2aZuFMv.
[33] L. Reyes-Galindo, "Molecular detector (non)technology in
Mexico," Science, Technology & Human Values, Aug. 22, 2016,
0162243916664993, https://doi.org/10.1177/0162243916664993.

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