This is out of a old BBC report from around 2004(?).
The Villains' Gadgets
It's not only 007 who owns fancy gadgets. His enemies are resourceful, too. Especially femme fatale Fatima Blush in Never Say Never Again (1983) is well equipped with the latest technology.
Gadget:
Face Recognition Security Device (Never Say Never Again, 1983)
This device inspects visitors to SPECTRE's base to check for unauthorised personnel. The laser scans Fatima Blush and verifies whether her details match the database.
Could it work?
Facial recognition works by capturing an image of your face - known as a 'faceprint'. These are unique numerical maps of your face made up of distinguishing features on your face known as nodal points. There are around 80 nodal points, including: jaw line, chin, distance between eyes and width of nose.
Once the security system views your face - usually with a camera - the recognition software compares your faceprint against a database of stored images. Some facial recognition systems can match as many as 60 million faceprints per minute.
Gadget:
Night Binoculars (Never Say Never Again, 1983)
Another one of Fatima Blush's gadgets: using these night binoculars, she rumbles Bond as he hides in the shadows.
Could it work?
Yes. Night vision devices amplify available ambient light levels by passing the image through a photo-cathode and focusing it onto a green phosphor screen. The screen is green because the human eye is particularly sensitive to differences in shades of green as this colour sits right in the middle of the spectrum of visible light.
Thermal imaging - technology that relies on emissions of infra-red light rather than available light - can also be used to see things in almost perfect darkness.
Gadget:
Shark Attractor (Never Say Never Again, 1983)
While scuba diving in the Bahamas, Fatima places a device on the back of James' oxygen tank. Once activated, the repetitive bleep begins to attract sharks. James manages to ditch his tank and escapes.
Could it work?
Yes. All ocean animals are surrounded by very low-frequency electric fields - this provides a signal or homing device for sharks. These predators are particularly attracted to low-frequency, pulsing sounds such as the sounds made by injured or dying fish.
Receptor cells located around the sharks' snout, lower jaw and eyes detect electrical pulses. They tell the shark the direction the signals are coming from, and their strength.
The shark attractor device is designed to give off the same electrical pulses as a shark's prey. Big game charter boats now use similar technology to attract sharks, marlin and tuna for sport fishermen.
"Those were the days when we still associated Bond with suave, old school actors such as Sean Connery and Roger Moore,"
"Daniel didn't have a hint of suave about him," - Patsy Palmer
A constantly recurring character in Bond movies is the mad scientist. Men like Auric Goldfinger, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Max Zorin, and Hugo Drax all harbour fiendish scientific plans to achieve world domination
Master Plan:
Auric Goldfinger (Goldfinger, 1964)
Goldfinger attempts to detonate an atomic bomb in Fort Knox and make the US gold reserves radioactive. The world's biggest gold digger would render it worthless sending the value of his own stock rocketing.
Could it work?
The destructive force of an atomic bomb is caused by the blast itself as well as heat and radiation. Streams of subatomic particles, called neutrons, make up part of this dangerous radiation. In theory, gold could possibly pick up a neutron and, in turn, become radioactive.
This would, however, only be a short-lived problem, because the radioactive form of gold is so unstable that it would decay into mercury within days. Instead of gold, Fort Knox would then be crammed with mercury.
A 'dirty bomb' scenario, on the other hand, would have been a far easier option for Mr Goldfinger. The recipe for a cheap dirty bomb is startlingly simple: conventional explosive salted with radioactive material. The bomb wouldn't have made the gold itself radioactive but would have contaminated it with radioactive material, making it extremely unsafe to go anywhere near Fort Knox.
Master Plan:
Ernst Stavro Blofeld (On Her Majesty's Secret Service, 1969)
Blofeld dabbles in biological warfare. He constructs the 'omega' virus which causes infertility in humans, animals and plants.
Could it work?
Viruses can cause infertility in humans, animals and plants. The mumps virus, for example, can lead to sterility in men. Scientists have also linked infections with certain types of the herpes virus (the one that's also responsible for cold sores) to infertility in several mammals, possibly including humans. A number of viruses are also known to cause sterility in plants.
The problem with Blofeld's plan lies in his idea to create one virus that affects humans, animals and plants at the same time. A virus is basically a parasite that can only multiply in living cells of humans, other animals and plants (or bacteria). Because viruses rely on the infrastructure of their 'host', they usually only survive in one type of organism.
However, some viruses are able to infect certain animals and plants at the same time. These viruses often reproduce inside insects and are also passed on by them. But a virus that infects humans as well as all other animals and plants is unheard of.
Master Plan:
Hugo Drax (Moonraker, 1979)
Drax produces 50 globes with nerve gas capable of killing the world's entire population, but with no effect on animals. Drax's intention was to lead a master race out in space.
Could it work?
Eliminating all life on Earth would not present too much of a problem for a resourceful despot like Drax. However, singling out animals for mercy could create a problem. Chemicals that injure humans will usually affect other animals, although sometimes in different ways and at different speeds than humans. They often affect insects and plants too.
Nerve agents like Tabun, Soman, VX and Sarin are the most toxic of the known chemical warfare agents - some of which were originally used as pesticides. Usually tasteless and odourless, nerve agents rapidly penetrate everyday clothing and may be absorbed through the skin, respiratory tract or the eyes.
Master Plan:
Max Zorin (A View to a Kill, 1985)
In order to seize control of the global microchip industry, Zorin is hell bent on destroying Silicon Valley by causing a tremendous earthquake.
Could it work?
Possibly. In 1968, earthquake experts realised that controlled nuclear blasts underground in the Nevada Desert exerted seismic stress on the Earth's surface. One blast is thought to have created a fresh fault line in the Earth's crust 1.2km long.
Studies of seismic waves generated by nuclear blasts show that up to a third of the explosion's force exerts itself with earthquake-like seismic movements. A five megaton explosion can release seismic waves which measure 6.9 on the Richter Scale. Unlike proper earthquakes, however, nuclear explosions don't produce waves that travel very far from the centre of the blast.
"Those were the days when we still associated Bond with suave, old school actors such as Sean Connery and Roger Moore,"
"Daniel didn't have a hint of suave about him," - Patsy Palmer
