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Date-rape Drug Alert With 100 Percent Accuracy Ready

by Thilaka Ravi on Aug 4 2011 12:56 PM

 Date-rape Drug Alert With 100 Percent Accuracy Ready
A new sensor developed by researchers will help you know for sure if your drink is spiked or not.
Researchers at the Tel Aviv University have developed a sensor that will let you know whether there are drugs dissolved in your drink.

The device works in real time, so instantly alerts the user as to whether their drink has been spiked or not.

It works by analysing a tiny drop of drink as it comes into contact with a chemical formula made by the researchers.

So far, the sensor has been 100 percent effective in detecting two most common date-rape drugs GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyric acid) and ketamine.

"You don't even have to hold it up to the light and the system will let you know whether there are drugs dissolved in your drink," the Daily Mail quoted researcher Michael Ioffe as telling a news agency.

"The drug itself is reacting with this chemical formulation and the previously clear formula becomes dirty and when the light shines it you can detect it," he said.

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"You don't have to do anything but dip it in your drink," he added.

Dr Ioffe and his co-researcher Professor Fernando Patolsky were amazed to find that their formula has a 100 percent success rate.

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No matter what drink it is dipped in, be it beer, cocktails or soft drinks, the device responded with the correct answer.

The Israeli scientists are now awaiting funding in order to mass produce their invention.

While the sensor seems to be promising so far, there is still work to be done. For one thing, they are undecided as to the best way for their device to alert a user to the fact their drink has been spiked.

"We haven't decided how it will let you know. Maybe it will just light up or a part of it will rotate or maybe it will send a signal to your cell phone because you want to be discreet about it," said Dr Ioffe.

Source-ANI


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