Oak Ridge
Diving Boards for Molecules
The ultimate sensor would detect every type of substance that terrorists might use to kill or incapacitate people. One approach is in the works at Oak Ridge National Laboratory: a chip outfitted with row after row of tiny "diving boards" no longer than the width of a human hair.
Each one is coated with a compound that acts like a magnet for one specific biochemical toxin or explosive. When molecules of one of these substances settle on its board's coating, the extra weight causes that board to bend, deflecting a laser beam and triggering an alert. Oak Ridge researchers envision such sensors with 10,000 diving boards.