Haven’t gotten back to my smart wear series yet, I will get back to it in due course. But, I did run across this fascinating story in the meantime.

The Blue Crab

It seems that some enterprising researchers at the University of Maryland have found a way to use chitosan (think kite-o-san) in combination with micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) to detect many different chemical and biological substances. Chitosan is harvested from the shells of the crabs. The function is pretty simple, chitosan is placed on an arm that is allowed to vibrate, the frequency is monitored. When a substance is detected, the chitosan changes causing the vibration to change which can then signal the presence of a particular substance. The coolest things are often simple in concept.

Nano Cantilever

The hope is to be able to apply this knowledge to create biological and chemical substance alarms, perhaps to help aid in the fight against terror. Pretty cool stuff.

Technorati Tags: Crab | Nanotech | Science | Sensor