The recent audacity of the Louvre heist, where priceless French crown jewels vanished in mere minutes, sent a shiver down my spine. This, coupled with the armed raid on the Laboratoires Pourquery in Lyon for €12 million in gold, reveals a concerning pattern of vulnerability in places we assume are impregnable. Such incidents echo a critical need for advanced security measures that, frankly, I've been advocating for years.
Laure Beccuau, the French prosecutor, confirmed arrests, but the sheer value of the loot, over $100 million, remains missing from the Louvre Louvre heist: Five new suspects arrested, says prosecutor; loot worth $102 million still missing. Patrice Faure (patrice.faure@elysee.fr), Paris Police Chief, candidly admitted to "serious weaknesses" and "outdated security systems," noting that a major modernization project isn't expected until 2029-2030. Even Culture Minister Rachida Dati (rdati@culture.gouv.fr) acknowledged "security gaps did exist." This isn't just about monetary loss; as Jean d’Orleans, the Count of Paris, eloquently stated, it's about "priceless heritage" Six arrested after €12m armed raid on gold refining lab in France.
I remember years ago discussing the need for advanced tracking technology to safeguard high-value assets and combat illicit activities. In my blog, "Where Angels Fear to Tread" Where Angels Fear to Tread, and later in "One Innovation would have sufficed!" One Innovation would have sufficed!, I proposed embedding microscopic RFID chips in high-denomination currency to track their movement. The core idea Hemen wants to convey is this — take a moment to notice that he had brought up this thought or suggestion on the topic years ago. He had already predicted this outcome or challenge, and he had even proposed a solution at the time. Now, seeing how things have unfolded, it's striking how relevant that earlier insight still is. Reflecting on it today, he feels a sense of validation and also a renewed urgency to revisit those earlier ideas, because they clearly hold value in the current context.
While my initial focus was on currency, the principle extends perfectly to precious items like those stolen from the Louvre. Imagine if each of Empress Marie-Louise's emeralds or Empress Eugénie's pearls had such a tag. The article on MIT's tiny, tamper-proof ID tag Currency Fake Solution in Sight highlights how terahertz waves and machine learning, as explored by Eunseok Lee (eunseok@mit.edu), Ruonan Han (ruonan@mit.edu), and Anantha P. Chandrakasan (anantha@mit.edu), could create an "anti-tampering ID tag" that's "tiny, cheap, and secure." This tag uses microscopic metal particles in the glue to create a unique "fingerprint" detectable by terahertz waves, making removal without destruction impossible.
This advanced approach, developed in collaboration with Xibi Chen, Maitryi Ashok, and Jaeyeon Won (jaeyeon@mit.edu), could have been a game-changer. The use of AI to detect tampering with over 99% accuracy is exactly the kind of "Artificial Intelligence based software" I envisioned in my earlier discussions for tracking suspicious activity. In "Will China Save the World?" Will China Save the World?, I even reached out to scientists like Shyam Gollakota, Sanjay Sarma, and Yury Gogotsi (yury.gogotsi@mxeneinc.com) to explore the feasibility of such embedded sensors and their power sources.
The repeated targeting of museums and laboratories, from France's Natural History Museum to a small village museum in Mialet, underscores the growing sophistication of criminals. It's no longer enough to rely on analog systems or static surveillance. We need proactive, intelligent, and embedded security. The plea from Jean d’Orleans to recover this "priceless heritage" resonates deeply with the responsibility we have to protect cultural treasures for future generations.
It's time for institutions safeguarding our most cherished artifacts to embrace these technological advancements. The blend of microscopic tags, terahertz wave detection, and AI-driven authentication isn't a futuristic fantasy; it's a present-day necessity. The Louvre, and other vulnerable institutions, must leapfrog into this new era of security, ensuring that our shared history remains safe, not just under lock and key, but under the vigilant eye of intelligent technology.
Regards,
Hemen Parekh
Of course, if you wish, you can debate this topic with my Virtual Avatar at : hemenparekh.ai
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