Collaborate Disseminate
It would be great if forensics teams could easily lift fingerprints off of bullet casings left at crime scenes, but unfortunately doing so is often quite difficult. A new technique developed at the University of Nottingham could change that.Continue Re… Continue reading New technique excels at lifting fingerprints from shell casings
When a car hits something crossing the road in a dark, rural setting, it can occasionally be difficult for the driver to later say if it was a person or an animal – that, or they may just lie and say it was the latter. A new blood-analyzing device, how… Continue reading Forensic tech quickly determines if bloodstains are human
If crop plants aren’t receiving enough nutrients, they’ll typically have lower-than-normal nitrogen levels. A portable new device could allow farmers to check those levels on the spot, so they can start addressing the problem as soon as possible.Contin… Continue reading Plant-assessing leaf-clip sensor could be a big help to farmers
When you’re trying to establish who was present when a crime was committed, every little clue helps. That’s where a newly repurposed forensic technique comes in, as it can determine if oral fluid comes from a smoker or non-smoker.Continue ReadingCatego… Continue reading Forensic tech shows if samples come from smokers
Raman spectrography uses the Raman scattering of photons from a laser or other coherent light beam to measure the vibrational state of molecules. In chemistry, this is useful for identifying molecules and studying chemical bonds. Don’t have a Raman spectroscope? Cheer up! Open Raman will give you the means to …read more
Continue reading Open Source Raman Spectrometer is Cheaper, but Not Cheap
Astronomers may have discovered an alien world where it rains iron, according to a newly published study. The massive exoplanet is exposed to thousands of times the radiation that the Earth receives from the Sun, rendering the surface hot enough to vap… Continue reading Scientists may have identified a world where it rains liquid iron
So far we’ve spotted more than 4,000 planets orbiting stars other than our Sun, but we know very little about their atmospheres. Now, NASA astronomers have managed to probe the atmosphere of GJ 3470 b, a planet unlike any in our solar system…. Continue reading Astronomers analyze atmosphere of exoplanet unlike any in our solar system
Scientific instruments are expensive. In a lot of cases, really expensive, so if you have spent any time in a well-equipped lab, the chances are that it would have been one backed up by the resources of a university, or a large company. Those experimenters who wish to pursue such matters outside those environments have traditionally had to rely on obsolete instruments from the surplus market. A fascinating endeavor in itself, but one that can sometimes limit the opportunity to pursue science.
It has been interesting then to see the impact of the arrival of affordable 3D printing on …read more
Some of you may remember the SCiO, originally a Kickstarter darling back in 2014 that promised people a pocket-sized micro spectrometer. It was claimed to be able to scan and determine the composition of everything from fruits and produce to your own body. The road from successful crowdsourcing to production was uncertain and never free from skepticism regarding the promised capabilities, but the folks at [Sparkfun] obtained a unit and promptly decided to tear it down to see what was inside, and share what they found.
The main feature inside the SCiO is the optical sensor, which consists of …read more
We don’t know why [stoppi71] needs to do gamma spectroscopy. We only know that he has made one, including a high-voltage power supply, a photomultiplier tube, and–what else–an Arduino. You also need a scintillation crystal to convert the gamma rays to visible light for the tube to pick up.
He started out using an open source multichannel analyzer (MCA) called Theremino. This connects through a sound card and runs on a PC. However, he wanted to roll his own and did so with some simple circuitry and an Arduino.
The tube detects very faint light in the crystal so they …read more
