‘Electronic’ nose that detects skin vapors developed

September 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Heparin, a commonly used anticoagulant, may cause skin lesions, a new study has found. Published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal), the study looked at 320 patients undergoing heparin injections over 12 months at The Hospital of The Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany.

September 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - An international team of scientists has developed a novel system that detects "unusual behaviours" in drivers before a curve or an obstacle on the road and generates signals of alarm to warn of an accident risk. The so-called DRIVSCO system allows vehicles to learn from the behaviour of their drivers at the wheel.

September 16th, 2009 LONDON - An electronic nose foil some people's attempt to deceive their doctors by telling them that they are non-smokers, in order to get cheaper life insurance. Paul Thomas at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, has revealed that their invention is a tweaked form of a commercially available e-nose.

September 16th, 2009 LONDON - Scientists claim to have pointed the reason why people who are actively trying to stop smoking often itch uncontrollably. Belgian researchers, who studied the effect of nicotine in mice, found that it activates a molecular pathway in membranes in the skin, nose and mouth known to play a role in inflammation.

September 14th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of scientists has developed a sensor that works as an 'electronic nose' in sniffing out some known poisonous gases and toxins, simply by changing colors. Support for the development and application of this electronic nose comes from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health.

August 1st, 2009 LONDON - Parents of a one-year-old baby girl have to give her a date-rape drug to ease her from the pain caused by a rare skin disease, which makes her skin as fragile as a butterfly's wing. Isla Grist's skin starts to blister and bleed with the slightest touch and she screams in pain when her bandages are changed.

July 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In an effort to extend the sensory range of 'electronic noses' (e-noses), scientists from CSIRO's Food Futures Flagship have developed a system that would help compare their performance against the much-superior nose of the common house fly. "Although e-noses already have many uses - such as detecting spoilage in the food industry and monitoring air quality - they are not as discriminating as biological noses," said CSIRO scientist, Dr Stephen Trowell.

July 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have solved the mystery of a bat with an extraordinarily long nose, by determining that the creature uses its elongated nose to create a highly focused sonar beam, which helps in the detection of its environment. The bat, called the Bourret's horseshoe bat (known scientifically as the "Rhinolophus paradoxolophus," meaning paradoxical crest), has a nose that is roughly 9 millimeters in length.

June 28th, 2009 LONDON - Researchers in France have found a way to identify wine so accurately they can pinpoint where the drink was made and in which barrel it was fermented. It uses an electronic nose to make even the most well established sommelier a little nervous.

June 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists at the University of Chicago and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed an "electronic glue" that promises development of less expensive semiconductors. The electronic glue could accelerate advances in semiconductor-based technologies, including solar cells and thermoelectric devices that convert sun light and waste heat, respectively, into useful electrical energy.

May 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have now shown that skin cells can be coaxed to behave like muscle cells and muscle cells like skin cells. The fickleness of the cells, and the relative ease with which they make the switch, provide a glimpse into the genetic reprogramming that must occur for a cell to become something it's not.

April 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - By using nanotechnology- or more specifically "nano-electromechanical systems", or NEMS-scientists have taken a major step towards creating 'artificial noses'. In a bid to track down single molecules, nano researchers have developed NEMS, which are actually minute strings that resonate in characteristic fashion.

April 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - The latest beauty cream that can be added in a woman's skin care regimen can be found in berries. A new study has found that an antioxidant present in the fruit could help fight skin damage due to ultraviolet (UV) rays.

March 14th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A group of scientists have discovered a new way to sensitively detect explosives based on the physical properties of their vapors. "Certain classes of explosives have unique thermal characteristics that help to identify explosive vapors in presence of other vapors," said Thomas Thundat, a researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the University of Tennessee, who conducted the research with his colleagues at ORNL and the Technical University of Denmark.

February 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have found that an enzyme associated with the synthesis of fat in the body is also the key to healthy skin and hair. The enzyme is DGAT1.