This puts substantial power back in the hands of consumers. In an age of fluorinated water, GMOs, and hormones in milk, this could be an essential technology that really determines what companies are and aren't lying to us about what they're actually putting in their foods.
I didn't even think of it like that... when I first picked up my kindle e-reader I felt that I had the first star trek data pad... now tri-corders! I AM IN!!!
this is a grand idea and every individual ought to have access to the tools required to know what one is eating, what one is breathing, drinking -- for what one ingests determines so much of oneself
As a MChem student from UCL I can tell you that infrared spectroscopy is one of the least decisive identification techniques we use in the laboratory, because it merely identifies the functional group(s) present and doesn't tell you what the whole molecule is even in a pure compound, let alone in a large mixture of compounds like in a piece of vegetable. Also given the complexity of the molecules in everyday life it is hard to resolve those absorption peaks to extract any useful data. Those absorption peaks essential to identifying which functional groups are present will be overlapping each other. Directly analogous to trying to extract a finger print on a spot that has been smeared by thousands of other fingerprints. Therefore I highly doubt the accuracy that this handheld device is going to provide.
It's amazing that noone has pointed out that a lot of science and tech types have pointed out that there is no way that this could realistically work. I'm going to enjoy the rage when this falls apart in front of it's backers.
its cheaper to utilize the screen of a device almost everyone has. smart phones are becoming a basic utility device. it makes the product more accessible
doodr possibly a second model. But I would rather have this than part of a smart phone built into the device. And if the tech shrinks anymore it can be built into smart phones.
Skinnymarks I'm not totally sure but I think he might have meant, why not a more universal signal such as WiFi b/g/n so that any device such as a computer can use it or even just have the option to store the information onto the device itself (or sd card) rather than the requirement of a smartphone.
If this thing works as advertised, it may even be able to detect if someone slipped a little extra something into your food or drink ! I'm sold on this bit of tech, eagerly awaiting its full release !
This should completely circumvent the whole GE crops issue. Should be able to scan fruit/veggies and see exactly what's in them. Make a lot of people happy and much safer moving forward.
This is pretty cool. I could see this at a super market or a school. Kids with allergies that aren't sure which school lunch to eat could just scan and think yes or no. Technology is awesome.
F.Y.I. Canada has a higher food and drug standard than the US and more long term testing is done before an item can be considered legal. Many items are not permitted within Canada from the US and finally when something does not pass our C.F.I.A. Canadian Food Inspection Agency, it is not permitted to leave the production plant, in comparison to the US F.D.A. which companies can fight a recall or closer. P.S. this tech is awesome and everyone should know what is in there food, so all people can be safe.
I also think the food industry will not be that happy with this product. If there is something in the food that shouldn't be in it, now you give the people the ability to analyze their food and detect ingrediënts that normally would be eaten. This will bring some hassle to the food market and other markets. I think this is a good thing. There are so many products that you just eat trusting someone that you never see. Another thing is that you might have the ability to look at the soil quality and it's fertilizers in it so not even when you water your plant, but also the nutrients it needs. That would be so awesome. Of course this might need you to dissolve some soil but it also saves on some expensive soil test. I don't know it nutrient levels of soil are above a 1% volume of the soil. This is the minimum detection range that is optimal for every component a 0,1% can be achieved on some components. This is not just a toy with a database.
"Where can I buy this device?" "You probably can't. There was a few crowd-funders trying to manufacture a device like this. But there are obviously very strong interests that don't what this to happen at whatever the cost. I haven't looked into it again the last few years, though, but from what I've gathered over the years, "they" won't let this happen, as it would simply come with too many truths about what we really put in our mouths 😟"
I wonder if it could even tell, for example: I have celiac and am always cautious about restaurant and cross contamination - so I wonder if it could tell you if there are traces of gluten in your food - or even for any other allergy. It could help in those areas for sure, but I'm pretty sure no one would ever want to go for dinner with me ever again if I scan my food every time I go out. So, in that case, never mind - turns out I won't need it!
I know so many people that would just run around the band hall scanning people and things it would be funny as long as its ok to actually scan people with it :D
So...I work in a chemistry lab and we use Infrared since the 70's to analyse organic compound...this shit aint new... they just add an automatic analyser of the spectrum witch is really easy to do
That price isn't even that what i would have expected. Even a good moisture sensor for a plant cost like 30$ and that only looks at the soil level! Then for food quality if it could can like also discover unseeable molds. And maybe tissue quality if someone is hurt and how it is healing and that for that price. Wowwie
Cool, about 6 years ago I told my buddy that "I wish there was a small tool I could use to mesure the ammount of calories in my food" - and here it is. I F*CKING LOVE SCIENCE! ...and you Tara, you too. ;)
Are you saying titration will be a thing of the past cause I'm literally tearing up, I'm so happy right now. I will never have to titrate again :DD Man, it's a good time to be a chemist :D
I'm less concerned about this thing counting calories & macros for me, and more interested in having it detect all the crap in our food these days like hormones, chemicals, plastics, etc.. Finally having the means to actively hold the food industry accountable.. nothing would satisfy me more.
I wonder if this would work radiological isotopes. It would be nice to know which isotopes are present. Electron Capture isotopes are hard to detect. Oh yeah, I work at a nuke plant. :)
i hope this will also work for giving info about drugs and what is mixed in the drugs. It would save lives, lot of people die from Research Chamicals thinking it was something else. Please include Drug Testing in it!!
This is an amazzzing device! However if you can obtain this device, then wouldn't this eventually ruin the double blind test in experimenting a specific drug- as the patients can easily detect if the capsule is a placebo or not.
So a super short range, ultra cheap, non-EM version of WREM that can't tell you that guy 500 miles away, 3000 feet under ground is trapped in a collapsed mine suffering from hypothermia, low blood sugar, sleep deprivation, dehydration, and the level of carbon dioxide poisoning all while mapping possible routes to dig him out? Ok, still would like to see people invest in a more wide spread version that doesn't require the use of the internet or a smart phone to get accurate results from the electronic fields of any sub-atomic particle, but this is a start. It actually sounds like this would be way more useful in everyday life than WREM by a long shot in any case.
If I recall the last time something like this was advertised it was a scam, Proof is in the pudding though so if it can't tell you what pudding is then no sale.
Would be good if you didn't need an internet connection! I'd genuinely be interested in obtaining one of these if they didn't need a smartphone to display the data (I don't have a smart phone and neither do I want nor need one :P )
