Wednesday, October 7, 2009
New Technology Detects Chemical Weapons In Seconds
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091005102708.htm# This article is about Scientists at Queen's University Belfast who are developing new sensors to detect chemical agents and illegal drugs which will help fight against the threat of terrorist attacks. These new sensors will use special gel pads to 'swipe' a person or crime scene to collect a sample. It is then analyzed by a scanning instrument that can tell us if there is a presence of chemicals. This works within seconds. The scanning instrument will use Raman Spectroscopy. It involves shining a laser beam onto the sample and measuring the energy of light that scatters from it to determine what chemical compound is present. this type of spectroscopy is not sensitive enough to detect low concentrations of chemicals, so to see the concentration, the sample is mixed with nanoscale silver particles making us able to see the smallest trace. Since this happens in seconds, it will help stop terrorism, because they will know if they are dangerous faster. Eventually what scientist will hope to do is use the new sensors for developing a breathalyzer for roadside drug testing.
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What I found interesting about the review was the fact that technology has come so far that soon there will be detectors able to scan illegal drugs. This will revolutionize security and crime scene investigation, making investigations more accurate. What I also found interesting was that scientists are also working on using this technology to make a roadside breathalyzer to detect drugs. At the moment, breathalyzers can only detect alcohol and while this has prevented many accidents, many more could be prevented with a drug breathalyzer. What I find so great about this technology is that it only takes seconds to detect a substance, so when sweeping a crime scene, it won’t take days for results to come back from crime labs, information can be gathered by the police right on the spot. This will save money and time.
What I would have liked to have heard in the review is how soon this technology will be available. Is it something that is talked about and will not be accomplished or are we going to see this scanner in the next year. What I would have also liked to know is what kinds of conditions can and can’t the scanner work in. If the body has decayed a certain amount or if it was submerged in water, locked in a car trunk etc…. how accurate will the scanner be then.
I learned a lot from reading this article, in particular what I liked about the review was how much I learned about new technology and how far it has come. This new technology will change things for the better, making crime scene investigations more accurate and the roads and airports safer.
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