Science Daily November 11, 2019 An international team of researchers (UK, Ireland) has built a fingerprint drug testing technology which is now able to detect heroin, its metabolite, 6-monoacetylmorphine (6-AM) and other analytes associated with the class A drug. The technology was able to identify traces of heroin and 6-AM on drug non-users in every scenario the researchers devised – whether someone directly touched the drug, handled it and then thoroughly washed their hands, or had come into contact with heroin via shaking someone else’s hand…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Category Archives: Sensors
Nuclear warheads? This robot can find them
EurekAlert November 12, 2019 A team of researchers in the US (Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University) is developing a prototype of autonomous, three-foot rolling robots armed with smart detectors to support nuclear safeguards and verify arms-control agreements. The demonstration confirmed that the robot could detect the source of neutrons and provided data. The “inspector bot” consists of a cylinder of polyethylene plastic containing three neutron counters set 120 degrees apart and mounted on a robot with specialized wheels that enable it to move in any direction. The detectors provide high sensitivity to the energy of detected neutrons and the […]
‘Treasure trove’ of earthquake clues could be unearthed by wavy new technique
Science Daily September 24, 2019 Current rock mapping techniques use sound waves that help assess how rocks might behave when stress builds up, and how much shaking there would be in an earthquake. An international team of researchers (UK, New Zealand) have plugged current sound wave information into full waveform inversion which helps them paint a picture of the Hikurangi fault zone in unprecedented detail. They also captured the shallow faults which were responsible for the large Gisborne tsunami in 1947 — an example of a large tsunami caused by a relatively small slow slip earthquake. The researchers combined data […]
HOT SHOT findings could save defense tech developers time and money
Phys.org August 30, 2019 Having better data at an early stage of development of missile technologies could create opportunities to explore new, innovative ideas by reducing the risk of failure. By analysing HOT SHOT sounding rocket data researchers at Sandia National Laboratory found a way to improve these tests, providing an earlier, more accurate indicator of whether an experimental technology will ultimately succeed in flight. They dressed the insides of sounding rockets with pea-sized instruments that measure vibration which has produced a more complete picture of flight vibrations that is now being used to create more accurate simulations and ground […]
Researchers reveal ultra-fast bomb detection method that could upgrade airport security
EurekAlert August 29, 2019 Paper spray mass spectrometry is a rapid and sensitive tool for explosives detection but so far it has only been demonstrated using high resolution mass spectrometry, which bears too high a cost for many practical applications. Researchers in the UK developed a system which uses swabbing material, they call “swab spray” to collect explosives from surfaces. Sensitive detection using swab spray will require a mass spectrometer with a mass resolving power of 4000 or more. The new detection method is able to analyse a wider range of materials than current thermal based detection systems used in […]
Ultrathin 3-D-printed films convert energy of one form into another
MIT News August 28, 2019 Piezoelectric materials produce a voltage in response to physical strain, and they respond to a voltage by physically deforming. Researchers at MIT developed an additive fabrication method to 3-D print ceramic transducers about 100 nanometers thin at room temperature. The films resonate at around 5 gigahertz, which is high enough for high-performance biosensors. The raw material used in 3-D printing — contains zinc oxide nanoparticles mixed with some inert solvents, which forms into a piezoelectric material when printed onto a substrate and dried. The researchers are currently working with colleagues to make piezoelectric biosensors to […]
Portable radiation detectors make the invisible, visible
Physics World August 8, 2019 Traditionally, workers have used hand-held meters to survey small areas methodically, square centimetre by square centimetre. This process is cumbersome, and it can also mean that technicians spend unnecessarily long periods of time in dangerous environments. An international team of researchers (UK, Japan) developed Hot Spot Locator (HSL) that images gamma radiation similar to the way digital cameras image visible light. Signals from an array of high-energy radiation sensors are coupled with a coded aperture, a collection of around a dozen pinholes, which the HCL’s deconvolution algorithms can interpret to create a true image of […]
Emotion-detection applications built on outdated science, report warns
Science Daily July 18, 2019 The general public and some scientists believe that there are unique facial expressions that reliably indicate six emotion categories: anger, sadness, happiness, disgust, fear, and surprise. But in reviewing more than 1,000 published findings about facial movements and emotions, a team of researchers in the US (Northeastern University, Mass General Hospital, Caltech, the Ohio State University, University of Wisconsin) found that typical study designs don’t capture the real-life differences in the way people convey and interpret emotions on faces. They propose a new model for studying emotion-related responses in all their complexity and variations. This […]
Reversible electro-optical detector for environmental sensing of pollutants
Phys.org July 15, 2019 An international team of researchers (Spain, France, USA – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) proposes the use of a simple non-porous coordination polymer that shows a magneto-structural transition under desorption/absorption of acetonitrile molecules in the structure. This reversible change produces a measurable response in the presence of acetonitrile. This response comes in the form of a change in the color of the polymer from orange to yellow and an abrupt increase in the electrical conductivity. Both responses are easily observed by the naked eye or easily measured, providing an obvious advantage over other costly analytical techniques. The […]
The Pentagon has a laser that can identify people from a distance—by their heartbeat
MIT Technology Review June 26. 2019 An individual’s cardiac signature is unique, it remains constant and cannot be altered or disguised. Researchers have developed a device called Jetson for the Pentagon which uses laser vibrometry to detect the surface movement caused by the heartbeat. It works at 200 meters (219 yards), longer distances could be possible with a better laser. A special gimbal was added so that an invisible, quarter-size laser spot could be kept on a target. It takes about 30 seconds to get a good return. They developed algorithms capable of extracting a cardiac signature from the laser […]