Engineer Jagdeep Talwar sends a bag through a detection machine at the Transportation Security Lab, where scientists test how well airport security devices can pick up on explosives. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Scientists at the Transportation Security Laboratory pack harmless-looking explosives into a shoe, a Teletubby doll and other objects. Next step: keeping those objects off a plane. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
A CAT scan of an M&M peanut in the detection research lab at the Transportation Security Laboratory. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Inho Cho, a research chemist, studies the vapor properties of liquid explosives at the Transportation Security Laboratory. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Engineer Nelson Carey shows a boot rigged with an explosive device at the Transportation Security Lab in Atlantic City, N.J. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Lab director Susan Hallowell stands in the baggage warehouse, with nearly 10,000 lost or abandoned suitcases and other packed luggage. The lab uses the bags for testing. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
