ChemicalAnalysis
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Scientists stumble upon bomb-sniffing laser with a boomerang effect
You might think of a laser as light forced into a single, directed beam, but scientists have recently discovered that if you fire a laser in one direction, the air itself can fire another right back. Using a 226nm UV laser, researchers at Princeton University managed to excite oxygen atoms to the point that they emit infrared light along the same channel as the original beam, except this time pointed back where it came from. Since the return beam's chemistry depends on the particles in the air to generate the return beam, the "backward laser" could potentially carry the signature of those particles back to the source and help identify them there. That seems to be the entire goal, in fact -- the project, funded by an Office of Naval Research program on "Sciences Addressing Asymmetric Explosive Threats," hopes that such a laser can ID bombs from a distance by hunting for trace chemicals in the air. Sounds like the perfect addition to our terahertz specs, and one step closer to the tricorder of our dreams.
Atomic force microscope takes a closer look at individual atoms
Hot on the heels of Purdue's Mini 10 chemical analyzer comes a (somewhat) similar creature from the other side of the globe, as Osaka University's Yoshiaki Sugimoto and colleagues have "found a way to use the atomic force microscope to produce images that reveal the chemical identity of individual atoms on a surface." Essentially, this new discovery allows scientists to look at a mixed material and "pick out individual atoms of different elements on its surface, such as tin or silicon." The microscopes themselves are quite common in this realm, but until now, they have not been capable of distinguishing between atoms of different chemical elements. The atomic fingerprint, as it's so aptly named, is what the crew scrutinized in order to distinguish between varying atoms on a sample surface, as they witnessed that the relationship between force and distance is "slightly different for atoms of different elements." Of course, we have to look for the practical use in all this hubbub, and a non-participating scientist from the UK has insinuated that the discovery could be useful for nanotechnology researchers trying to design devices at the molecular level -- and who wouldn't be down a little nanotech garb or a snazzy new water-repelling umbrella?
Purdue researchers craft handheld chemical analyzer, likens Tricorder
Hot on the heels of being crowned the most prolific pirating university in the land, Purdue is donning its halo once again by kicking out yet another invention that will surely make the world a better place to reside. The Mini 10 prototype is a handheld chemical analyzer that its creators have likened to Star Trek's "Tricorder," and while the internal abilities should genuinely impress, we're handing out a round of golf claps for the uber-glitzy motif it's got going on. The sophisticated sensing system measures just 13.5- x 8.5- x 7.5-inches and weighs in at 22-pounds, which is around 30 times less than conventional mass spectrometers, and aside from its ability to be completely portable via battery power, it still sports the same sniffing capabilities as its mammoth-sized siblings. In order to cram such potent chemical sensing abilities into such a small package, a miniature mass spectrometer is "combined with a technique called desorption electrospray ionization (DESI)," and can display the chemical composition of materials in a "matter of minutes without harming the samples." Interestingly enough, the prototype has already analyzed garb, food, and actual cocaine, and while we're not quite sure when you'll be able to snatch one of these up to "check in" on your mischievous teen, a couple of Indiana-based firms are apparently already looking into commercialization options.Slashdot]
