It just became possible, thanks to a laser camera developed by physicists at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, UK. You can pretty much see how it works from the images above -- laser beams are bounced off the target and the duration of their return journey is measured precisely enough to detect millimeter depth changes even at extreme distances.

ENGADGET: Laser scans objects in 3D from half a mile away, scientists just need reason to use it

The trial was supported by the University of Edinburgh, the Stroke Association UK, the Medical Research Council, EME, the Health Foundation UK and NHS Lothian Health Board.

BBC: Brain

In this study, carried out in 2002, scientists from the UK's University of Edinburgh and Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, the US, examined 38 women who were pregnant while at or near the World Trade Center when it was attacked.

BBC: NEWS | Health | Babies inherit 9/11 mums' stress