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By iGrrrl (Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 10:58:42 AM EST) (all tags)

Technology first invented in our kitchen.

Neat.

That's all.

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Cool publicity | 20 comments (20 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback

Cool! by toxicfur (4.00 / 1) #1 Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 11:10:13 AM EST

Nice write-up -- now I'll get to say, "I knew them before Homeland Security disappeared them 'for their own protection.'" ;)

I owe you a phone call. Or at least an email. I am thinking of you.
-----
If you don't get a Bonnie, my universe will not make sense. --blixco

: Thinking of you, too by iGrrrl (4.00 / 1) #5 Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 02:09:07 PM EST

I don't think we'll be disappeared...

"I don't have time for martial law, I have to get to the gym!" zarathus
[ Parent ]

That's awesome. by hulver (4.00 / 1) #2 Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 11:16:49 AM EST

Very cool.

Even I can think of lots of applications for it.

Drug detecting breathalisers.

Cancer detection from smell (I've read reports that some dogs are supposed to be able to do it, I don't know if there have been any studies on it. Would be nice to see if it's possible)

Office BO detector. "Sorry, you're too smelly to come to work. Go home and wash"

Spiked drink detector. Wave your drink under it in a bar and it tells you if it contains an unusual chemical.

I wonder if it could be used to detect things underground. J is an archaeologist, and something that you could run over a field that would give a "smell array" of a field. Underground features often cause changes in the plants that grow above, and sharp changes in the odor composition could highlight underground features in much the same way as resistivity and magnetometry do now.
--
smart, pretty, sane. pick two - georgeha

drugs, diseases, counterfeit wine by iGrrrl (2.00 / 0) #6 Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 02:13:40 PM EST

The original work with this stuff was to find buried land mines, but it's interesting to think about whether, say, the presence of chemicals used in making ceramics could be detected. The odor environment of the ground is rich, but with an array of sensors, such as are in the device, it's the combinatorial effect that gives the readout. This is fundamentally different from things like CO2 detectors, or the detectors for leaking gas.

Also, a lot of the work was funded for developing devices for first responders in the case of industrial accident or attack by weapons of mass destruction.

I like the Office BO detector best. I'm sending that one on to my husband!

"I don't have time for martial law, I have to get to the gym!" zarathus
[ Parent ]

That's why I think the sub-surface detection would by hulver (2.00 / 0) #9 Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 03:03:53 PM EST

be good. You might not even have to detect what the substances are, just detect the changes in composition of the whole. A map of the variations could show up a whole variety of things.
--
smart, pretty, sane. pick two - georgeha
[ Parent ]

innnnteresting (n.t.) by iGrrrl (2.00 / 0) #10 Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 03:16:23 PM EST

"I don't have time for martial law, I have to get to the gym!" zarathus
[ Parent ]

With 20 sensors by hulver (2.00 / 0) #12 Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 06:32:10 PM EST

You'd have 2²⁰ combinations. Get a unique "odor signature" for a point on the ground. Plot that out into a colour map of a field say, and you might get some interesting results.

Am I talking complete bollocks or might there be something in it?
--
smart, pretty, sane. pick two - georgeha
[ Parent ]

: not bollocks by iGrrrl (2.00 / 0) #14 Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 08:31:51 PM EST

That's a very different approach. At this point, the major approach has been to train the neural network that analyzes sensor response (in this case 16 sensors). In other words, "this group of sensors responding in this way means dinitrotoluene," or "this beer is Corona, and that is Samuel Adams" (which it has learned). The problem in RL environments is that if you're going into a toxic spill situation, there will be interferants, like diesel fuel, cigarette smoke, etc., so the device needs to know what those look like, too.
The approach you're talking about is quite different. It wouldn't require identifying the odorants, just differences in the sensor response. That's a hell of a lot less processing.

"I don't have time for martial law, I have to get to the gym!" zarathus
[ Parent ]

Re: CO2 by lolwhat (2.00 / 0) #17 Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 06:58:00 AM EST

If you made something that could reliably detect concs of O2 and CO2 under high pressures, rebreather manufacturers everywhere would want to have your children. It would possibly revolutionize scuba diving in a big way, too.

[ Parent ]

Cool! Do you get royalties! by wiredog (4.00 / 1) #3 Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 11:22:14 AM EST

Future HuSi multizillionaire?

Earth First!
_{(We can strip mine the rest later.)}

: Ya' have to sell 'em, first. by iGrrrl (2.00 / 0) #7 Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 02:15:36 PM EST

Not sure we'd ever get that rich, so I'm not structuring my life in the expectation that anything will change. I'd be happy to be pleasantly surprised.

"I don't have time for martial law, I have to get to the gym!" zarathus
[ Parent ]

Way cool by georgeha (4.00 / 1) #4 Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 12:15:00 PM EST

a real 10-22-38 Astoria moment.

: Nothing that revolutionary by iGrrrl (2.00 / 0) #8 Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 02:17:28 PM EST

But, still cool.

"I don't have time for martial law, I have to get to the gym!" zarathus
[ Parent ]

Promising science heralded for its benefits.. by duxup (4.00 / 2) #11 Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 03:35:05 PM EST

THIS IS GOING TO KILL US ALL!
____

Kill? by iGrrrl (2.00 / 0) #13 Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 08:25:39 PM EST

That's a little strong.

"I don't have time for martial law, I have to get to the gym!" zarathus
[ Parent ]

IT SOUNDS MORE LOGICAL by duxup (4.00 / 1) #15 Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 09:30:45 PM EST

IF YOU SCREAM IT!
____
[ Parent ]

: At least we know... by toxicfur (4.00 / 1) #16 Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 10:08:33 PM EST

that duxup loves us.
-----
If you don't get a Bonnie, my universe will not make sense. --blixco
[ Parent ]

WITH THIS DNA-BASED ARTIFICIAL NOSE by herbert (4.00 / 1) #18 Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 08:25:20 AM EST

I WILL DESTROY THE WORLD!!!!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!

[ Parent ]

are you still ... by Kellnerin (2.00 / 0) #19 Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 08:06:59 PM EST

the voice of the Nose?

--
"Late to the party" is the new "ahead of the curve" -- CRwM

: sadly... by iGrrrl (4.00 / 1) #20 Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 09:19:37 PM EST

The nose is silent.

"I don't have time for martial law, I have to get to the gym!" zarathus
[ Parent ]

Cool publicity | 20 comments (20 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback


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