Comments on: With a New Chip, Scientists Use Chemistry to Identify Fluids (And Write Secret Messages) http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/08/04/with-a-new-chip-scientists-use-chemistry-to-identify-fluids-and-write-secret-messages/ 80beats is DISCOVER's news aggregator, weaving together the choicest tidbits from the best articles covering the day's most compelling topics. Wed, 23 May 2012 19:57:39 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Ben http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/08/04/with-a-new-chip-scientists-use-chemistry-to-identify-fluids-and-write-secret-messages/comment-page-1/#comment-1338194 Ben Fri, 05 Aug 2011 15:46:48 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/?p=30875#comment-1338194 I am concerned that my first thought is how much I would love a cocktail glass that tells me when I've met the perfect ratio of ethanol to everything else. I am concerned that my first thought is how much I would love a cocktail glass that tells me when I’ve met the perfect ratio of ethanol to everything else.

]]> By: Veronique Greenwood http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/08/04/with-a-new-chip-scientists-use-chemistry-to-identify-fluids-and-write-secret-messages/comment-page-1/#comment-1337763 Veronique Greenwood Fri, 05 Aug 2011 13:50:07 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/?p=30875#comment-1337763 @Georg, yes, you're exactly right! You can tell certain properties, like contact angle, which then can lead to you being able to identify the liquid--though an device incorporating the chip may need additional components to get to that point. You should check out the paper. But in a situation like telling different grades of gas apart, it wouldn't matter that many different fluids could have similar properties--you'd know it was gas, and you'd just be interested in what type. And yes, it's not a replacement for mass spec/gas chrom, as the researchers freely admit, but there are a lot of field situations where you wouldn't have easy access to such a set up. @Georg, yes, you’re exactly right! You can tell certain properties, like contact angle, which then can lead to you being able to identify the liquid–though an device incorporating the chip may need additional components to get to that point. You should check out the paper.

But in a situation like telling different grades of gas apart, it wouldn’t matter that many different fluids could have similar properties–you’d know it was gas, and you’d just be interested in what type.

And yes, it’s not a replacement for mass spec/gas chrom, as the researchers freely admit, but there are a lot of field situations where you wouldn’t have easy access to such a set up.

]]> By: Georg http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/08/04/with-a-new-chip-scientists-use-chemistry-to-identify-fluids-and-write-secret-messages/comment-page-1/#comment-1336889 Georg Fri, 05 Aug 2011 10:37:40 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/?p=30875#comment-1336889 With such a "chip" (working purely physical!) You cannot "identify" a liquid, You can find to which group of about a dozen groups defined by viscosity and contact angle it belongs. Not without usefulness, but limited to areas where You do not have access to someone with knowledge and a nose. Georg With such a “chip” (working purely physical!)
You cannot “identify” a liquid, You can find
to which group of about a dozen groups
defined by viscosity and contact angle it belongs.
Not without usefulness, but limited to areas where
You do not have access to someone with knowledge
and a nose.
Georg

]]> By: flashsumner http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/08/04/with-a-new-chip-scientists-use-chemistry-to-identify-fluids-and-write-secret-messages/comment-page-1/#comment-1334218 flashsumner Fri, 05 Aug 2011 01:18:52 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/?p=30875#comment-1334218 Good, let's get this stuff out to western PA, upstate NY, and eastern OH, and find out what secret mix of toxins are in 'fracking fluid' being used by natural gas drilling companies on the Marcellus Shale. Good, let’s get this stuff out to western PA, upstate NY, and eastern OH, and find out what secret mix of toxins are in ‘fracking fluid’ being used by natural gas drilling companies on the Marcellus Shale.

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