sensors

Cell phones have increasingly become mobile labs and tech tools for researchers, and now NASA has gotten in on the act. A postage-stamp-sized chemical sensor allows iPhones to sniff out low airborne concentrations of chemicals such as ammonia, chlorine gas and methane.

A puff from a "sample jet" helps sense any airborne chemicals. That information gets processed by a silicon chip consisting of 16 nanosensors, and then passes on to another phone or computer through any Wi-Fi or telecom network.

Just last week, the Chinese air force chief officer called military competition in space "inevitable." For those who thought this was just idle saber-rattling, take a look at what the American Air Force is cooking up this morning: a $50 million bid for better interplanetary weather forecasts, "battlespace surveillance" in space environments and inertial sensors for navigation, presumably in situations where the standard compass isn't effective.

Security agencies have long used the canine nose to sniff out contraband like explosives, drugs, human traffic and the like by picking up the scent of criminals’ illegal cargo. Now British scientists are developing two sensor systems that sniff out the criminals themselves by zeroing in on a specific pheromone emitted when humans are in stressful, fearful situations.

The last time I tried making beer, we were up until 3AM standing in a kitchen that looked like tornado had struck. My last wine-making attempts ended in grape-flavored vinegar. Even PopSci staff photographer John Carnett (or rather, his wife) endured a wort explosion the first time he tested his prototype DIY all-in-one brewing machine. Clearly, adult-beverage-making benefits from precise control and automation. Check out a few of my favorite electronic brewing projects after the jump.

Researchers at the ever-prolific Fraunhofer Institute have developed a system based around metal oxide sensors to detect whether a fruit is ripe, green, or rotten.

The system is meant to be used primarily by food suppliers, so that they can automatically detect the best moment to deliver pieces of fruit to a store. By using the sensor to detect levels of gasses emitted from fruits (in the test case, a pineapple), they know exactly what condition the fruit is in. And the equipment is as sensitive as the stuff used in food laboratories.