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Scientists develop mind-blowing tech to detect harmful gases in the blink of an eye — here's how it could help solve a global issue

Gas detection technology exists, but it can take time to decipher minute quantities of gas.

Gas detection technology exists, but it can take time to decipher minute quantities of gas.

Photo Credit: Florian Sterl, Sterltech Optics GmbH

When you have a natural gas leak in your home, you can smell it because utility companies add a chemical called mercaptan that gives natural gas its rotten egg smell. This is so the gas can be easily detected. 

But what about odorless gases? How can we quickly detect them? Or what about gases in extremely low concentrations? 

Gas detection technology exists, but it can take time to decipher minute quantities of gas, and often, you need to know what gas you're looking for to dial in the detection equipment. 

Potentially, not anymore. 

A group of researchers from the University of Stuttgart in Germany recently published a study in which they revealed a stunning new technological breakthrough that allows for the detection of gases, even trace amounts of gases, in the blink of an eye. 

The process is called coherently controlled quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy. Essentially, it works, though this is a gross simplification, like this: A laser beam is aimed at a gas with a quartz tuning fork suspended in the gas, and as the gas heats, it expands and vibrates, which makes the gas identifiable because each gas causes a slightly different oscillation in the tuning fork.  

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The real big advance here is that controlling how the laser and the fork interact can radically increase the power of the detection and the speed, according to SciTechDaily.

The researchers who wrote the paper were able to use the technique to identify a complete methane spectrum in just three seconds when, with traditional technology, it would take 30 minutes. 

This kind of super-sensitive and nearly instantaneous gas detection technology has potential in many important fields. Planet-warming gases like methane, a major contributor to the changing climate, could be detected and traced quickly, preventing it from escaping into the atmosphere. 

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Potentially dangerous and toxic gas pollution in manufacturing settings could also be identified quickly, boosting worker safety.

It's also possible the technology could be used as an early warning of cancer by detecting tell-tale markers in a person's breath. 

Researchers now plan to figure out just how sensitive the detection technology can get by trying it out on minute amounts of gas while also testing out if there's a speed limit to how quickly it can identify gases. 

All this with no rotten egg smell required. 

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