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An $80 Open Source Chemical Analyzer
An anonymous reader writes "A group of electrical engineering students at UCSB teamed up with some chemists and built an $80 gadget that can check water for arsenic, measure the level of vitamin C in orange juice, and also do simple DNA biosensor tests. The electronics in a blood sugar meter could do all of those things, but their firmware isn't easily hackable. All of the circuit schematics, gerber files, and software for this project are available on their project website. Another team at Denver Metro College is working to improve upon their design. Eventually, it could be used as a teaching tool in chemistry classrooms, or possibly to do blood and water tests in developing countries."
The reason it was published is because it provides an excellent tool for teaching undergraduates about the intricacies of scientific instrument design. It's not ground-breaking, it's not revolutionary, it's simply an experiment to teach sophomores and juniors about voltammetry in a cost-effective way that will hopefully stick with them more than "Here, watch quietly while I use this $75K cyclic voltammeter that we aren't going to let you use because undergrads always screw it up and we can't afford the week it takes to get it calibrated and functioning properly again."
My sister opened a computer store in Hawaii. She sells C shells by the seashore.