Nose For Trouble

A portable germ scanner exposes tainted food.

Mass spectrometers can determine the chemical composition of just about anything by sorting molecules according to their mass and electrical charge. Trouble is, most commercial instruments are dishwasher-size. The Mini 11 is no bigger than a Kleenex box and weighs only eight pounds. It's equipped with a hose that spritzes samples with ionized water, dislodging molecules that are then sucked inside and analyzed in seconds.YOU'RE LUNCHING in a greasy spoon where a dude called Roach has grilled up your burger, extra bloody. Naturally, you're leery. So you whip out your personal food scanner to check for E. coli and other microbial nastiness. That, at least, is the vision of Purdue University's R. Graham Cooks and his colleague Zheng Ouyang, who have created a portable mass spectrometer, the Mini 11, that can detect everything from bacteria to drug residue.Michael Stroh

Michael Stroh