The Change Mariner

New Machine Can Detect Drugs Like Dogs

MercuryNews.com:

Georgia Tech researchers have developed a machine that can instantly sniff out cocaine and other illegal drugs without the hassle of feeding, training and interpreting a police dog.

"This works the same way as the dogs," said Bill Hunt, the electrical engineering professor heading the project. "They're picking up on the vapors coming off the cocaine."

From a few feet away, the device can "smell" microscopic amounts of a particular substance - as little as one-trillionth of a gram. So far it's only programmed to detect cocaine. But Hunt says it could be developed to sniff out other drugs, anthrax, bombs, chemical agents and even cancerous cells.