Laser-based device can scan almost any sample of gas and tell you what's in it

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Qizhong Liang in Jun Ye's lab at JILA on the CU Boulder campus. Credit: Patrick Campbell/CU Boulder Expert sommeliers can take a whiff of a glass of wine and tell you a lot about what's in your pinot noir or cabernet sauvignon. A team of physicists at CU Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have achieved a similar feat of sensing, only for a much wider range of substances. The group has developed a new laser-based device that can take any sample of gas and identify a huge variety of the molecules within it. It is sensitive enough to detect those molecules at minute concentrations all the way down to parts per trillion. Its design is also simple enough that researchers could employ the method quickly and at a low cost in a range of settings, from diagnosing illnesses in hu ... Read full article.