I looked through the archives and didn't find anything on this... Can ultrasound vision see through walls? There's nothing in M&M that would indicate yay or nay on this. If not, can I spread that cream doctors have on my eyeballs, press them against the wall THEN see through it? Does anyone have houserules on this? As it stands, I'm under the impression that they can see through anything below a certain barrier rating, say 4 or 6.

The pregnancy ultrasound works because of the liquid medium to conduct the sound (I believe).

I'd say no -- ultrasound doesn't penetrate walls, with or without vaseline.

-Siege

ultra sound cannot penetrate solid barries, if it did, then it would give an inaccurate "map" of your surroundings. The waves would not bounce off anything they would just keep going, giving the illusion that everything is "flat".

It seems to me that sometimes it would and sometimes it wouldn't. I've seen sonograms of inside a person, and it changes in how 'bright' it is at different parts, but sometimes you do see things overlap (especially bones near soft matter). It also seems to me that a piece of paper will not stop all the sound waves from going through and bouncing back, simply change their speed. A lead statue in a paper box would have a different sound signature from just an empty paper box.

right, i wasn't disputing that. If the object allows sound through it then it's obviously not very solid and therefore won't show up.

Ultrasound image is compiled by analying the waves that bounce back.

Ultrasound will return information based on the sonic conductivity of material. A change in density will show up, and some materials will let you see through them.

Consider how walls are designed. Extremely thin walls made of a single material may be translucent to ultrasound, but any wall with sound insulation will be completely opaque.

The microprocessors which compile the image that one sees from ultrasound vision are set to display anything that doesn't have the same sound conductivity of air as an object in the user's field of view. The ultrasound used for medical purposes would be set up to display differences in sound conductivity in the object that it is pressed against. Each has the possiblity of being used for the other purpose but would require some modification to the reciever's sensitivity and how the computer displays the results.

Could possibly be also set up as a ground penetrating sensor, though you'd have to have a far more powerful emiter to get any range as the earth is a great absorber of energy.

Keep in mind too that since it's a sound wave, it will pass through objects while also reflecting off of them. So, your wall would give a return wave (since it's density is different from air), and you'd get another one at the other side of the wall (another change in density), and then another one at the beginning of the guy's body behind the wall, etc.

Granted, it'd be weaker, but you'd still get a return signal. Or, so says my rudimentary understandiung of physics. [translation: I'm interested, have taken classes, but didnt' do well in some of my college physics classes. ]

Yes, what gknoy said is true. A sound wave can be reflected, pass through an object, get reflected off at the other end of that object, pass through that other end, get reflected off something else... even propagate within the object too.

But, would the echo from the wave bounce after penetrating the first wall have enough juice to penetrate the wall a second time to give the information?

That depends on the materials involved and the strength of the initial signal. The only completely accurace answer is "maybe."

Ultrasound sucks for penetration as discussed here. The reason ultrasound works on expectant mothers is that the sonics are travelling pretty much ONLY through liquid, the reader has to be pressed up against flesh, and the gel acts as a conduit. If you just point it at someone and turn it on it won't show squat.

For penetration like discussed here what you really want is milimeter wave radar. That's ground penetrating radar.