3M and Thales' navigation business have announced a cooperative agreement to market a locating method using GPS/GIS (global positioning system/geographic information systems) data collection to simplify mapping underground facilities for telecommunications as well as gas, water, sewer, CATV and electric power utilities. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. 3M's Dynatel series of handheld electronic marker locators will be combined with the Thales MobileMapper GPS/GIS data collector to enable utilities to simplify the mapping process. Data can be automatically transferred via serial cable to the MobileMapper to map electronic markers as they are located. 3M's markers contain a memory technology that can be programmed in the field to convey important features of each marked cable/pipe path and individual underground facility. . . . Mitsubishi Electric Corp. said Tuesday it has developed an intruder detection system that uses electric waves, a cheaper system than conventional security systems based on infrared rays, according to the Kyodo News. The system consists of two pairs of up to 1.5-kilometer-long transceiver cables -- one to send electric waves and the other to receive the waves -- set up in parallel around the area to be monitored, plus a sensor that detects any distortion in electric wave signals received by the receiver cable.