Another question being can it detect submarines subsurface?
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/b...sics-9qs9stx78
British team heralded after ‘Edison moment’ breakthrough in quantum physics
A British breakthrough in the use of quantum physics to map the subterranean world has been heralded as an “Edison moment”.
Researchers from the University of Birmingham revealed today that they had won a global race to develop a device known as a quantum gravity gradiometer, which can map underground features with unprecedented speed and accuracy.….
The project has been funded by the Ministry of Defence, which is interested in using the technology, which detects minute differences in the Earth’s gravitational field, as a navigational tool.
Professor Kai Bongs of the University of Birmingham, said: “This is an ‘Edison moment’ in sensing. With this breakthrough we have the potential to end reliance on poor records and luck as we explore, build and repair…..
Until now, quantum gravity gradiometers had worked only in controlled laboratory conditions. The device described today in the journal Nature is the first to work in the real world, and was tested by detecting a tunnel under the streets of Birmingham…..
It is roughly the size of a washing machine and can create maps with a spatial resolution of about 50cm. Dr Michael Holynski, senior author of the study, said that a smaller version is being developed. “We have a device that is 15kg and can fit in a backpack,” he said. The aim is to make one about as small as a Coca-Cola can.
“It’s going to happen over the next ten years or so, that’s what we believe,” he added. “Gravity is the best way of looking deep into the soil. If you want to look past the first couple of metres, it’s got to be gravity.”
Dr Gareth Brown, of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, an agency of the Ministry of Defence, said: “For national defence and security, accurate and rapid measurements of variations in microgravity open up new opportunities to detect the otherwise undetectable and navigate more safely in challenging environments.
“As gravity-sensing technology matures, applications for underwater navigation and revealing the subterranean will become possible.”
https://idstch.com/technology/quantu...ine-detection/
Interesting comment about also being used to detect stealth aircraft…