Real Life Tricorder Coming Soon

When sci-fi comes to real life:

Since we learned yesterday that everyone's cell phone will be a nuclear weapon detector in the future, it comes as no surprise today that scientists at the University of California have created what is, in effect, a Tricorder. They're calling it a much more modest name (Universal Detector), but the facts of the matter are clear: You'll be able to point this thing at other things and figure out what they're made of.

As if there was any doubt, the device would use nanotechnology to decipher what kinds of contaminants are present on any surface it scans.

The idea uses a thin layer of metal drilled with nanoscale holes, laid onto the surface being tested. When the perforated plate is zapped with laser light, the surface plasmons that form emit light with a frequency related to the materials touching the plate. A sensitive light detector is needed to measure the frequency of light given off.

Better still, the team, led by Kevin Tetz and members of the Ultrafast and Nanoscale Optics Group at the University of California, says the devices will be small and portable. They'll work on low power (green Tricorders!), and would work on a range of substances, from explosives to bacteria.

Here's a link to the patent application for the device.