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E-nose Sniffs Out Nasty Resistant Bacteria

Posted by Zonk on from the nanotech-nosehairs dept.

geekroot's dad writes "There have been several tries for an Electronic nose that seek out various airborne elements - they can find cancer, monitor recycled air for NASA and find nasty bacteria better than lab tests. Now as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MSRA) becomes a problem not only in hospitals but in everyday life some British scientist have built a super nose to find the 'little buggers'."

1 of 87 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Privacy Rights? by hubie · · Score: 2, Informative
    The Supreme Court (5 to 4) thought otherwise.

    Here is a quote from Scalia writing for the majority:

    "We think that obtaining by sense-enhancing technology any information regarding the interior of the home that could not otherwise have been obtained without physical `intrusion into a constitutionally protected area,'...constitutes a search at least where (as here) the technology in question is not in general public use. This assures preservation of that degree of privacy against government that existed when the Fourth Amendment was adopted. On the basis of this criterion, the information obtained by the thermal imager in this case was the product of a search."