Thieves tampering with an ATM in an effort to get their hands on its cash could soon find themselves sprayed with hot foam, and a lot more besides, if technology developed by Switzerland’s ETH Zurich gets bought up by banks.
Inspired by the behavior of the bombardier beetle, which, when it finds itself in a tricky situation with a predator, emits an explosion of gas in an act ETH Zurich describes as “the most aggressive chemical defense system in nature”, the team of researchers has created a special layered film that, when damaged, produces a spray of hot foam.