I’m sure all of you have seen movies where special dyes are used to catch criminals who have stolen valuable items. Remember at the end of Speed when Dennis Hopper is on the subway after he thinks he has made a clean getaway with lots of cash? He goes to check his loot, and gets a face full of purple dye.

Considering there is a whole show devoted to non-existent technology used to catch criminals, I was surprised to discover that this technology actually exists. The Smartlock takes this crime-fighting technology and puts it on a more commonplace item: a bike lock.

The SmartLock is a bike-lock cable filled with compressed air the special liquid dye. So if someone tries to cut open the cable with a file or bolt cutters, there will be sudden squirt that the criminal won’t forget.

Best of all, the dye has a distinct residue that works as an “invisible forensic property marking liquid”. I’m not certain what that means, but I’m guessing the dye is not only hard to wash off, but leaves some sort of stain that is visible only under certain lighting.

The SmartLock is just concept at this present time, but it is one of those that should be rushed to production due to its usefulness.

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