CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — University of Illinois chemists have developed a simple sensor to detect an explosive used in shoe bombs. It could lead to inexpensive, easy-to-use devices for luggage and passenger screening at airports and elsewhere.
Triacet…
The light, tickling tread of a pesky fly landing on your face may strike most of us as one of the most aggravating of life’s small annoyances. But for scientists working to develop pressure sensors for artificial skin for use on prosthetic limbs …
A specific type of fat present in cell membranes also serves as a cellular pH sensor, a team of University of British Columbia researchers has discovered.
pH is a measure of acidity or basicity. Cells need to maintain pH in order to perform their …
A new approach to building an “artificial nose” — using fluorescent compounds and DNA — could accelerate the use of sniffing sensors into the realm of mass production and widespread use, say Stanford chemists. If their method lives up to its p…
A “smart brick” developed by scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign could monitor a building’s health and save lives. “This innovation could change the face of the construction industry,” said Chang Liu, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Illinois. “We are living with more and more smart electronics all around us, but we still live and work in fairly dumb buildings. By making our buildings smarter, we can improve both our comfort and safety.”
Detecting the presence of hazardous lead paint could become as simple as pressing a piece of paper against a wall and noting a color change. Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a highly sensitive and selective biosensor that functions in much the same fashion as a strip of litmus paper.
Millions of people suffering from diabetes mellitus may be spared the ordeal of pricking their fingers several times a day to test blood sugar levels, thanks to a breakthrough by University of Pittsburgh researchers who have developed a non-invasive method to measure the glucose level in bodily fluids.
Military commanders of the future will employ high-tech sensing equipment to detect the strength and positions of enemy forces, including those attempting to hide from prying electronic eyes. “‘Sensor War’ is a fully two-sided ‘game,'” noted Arthur K. Cebrowski, director of DoD’s Transformation Office and a retired Navy vice admiral. “You want to sense something (and) the person or the thing that you’re trying to sense is owned by someone, so they take measures to make it more difficult for you to find it.” The concept of “Sensor War” isn’t far-fetched, he pointed out. Today’s firefighters, he noted, use heat-detecting equipment to find “hot spots” in burning buildings despite swirling smoke and dust.