Tech Transfer: Mini-Mass Spectrometer

Guests: Daniel Austin, Professor of Chemistry at BYU  On TV, first responders and crime scene investigators can sniff a mysterious substance or take a sample and on-the-spot know exactly what it is. Real life generally requires the use of a fairly bulky device called a mass spectrometer – which is in a lab somewhere – so it takes some time to know what substance we’re dealing with. It would be better if the analysis could be done in the field, like it is on TV.