Uc Science Today

A medical device that could be used in deep space to check up on the health of astronauts, could also someday be used for various environmental monitoring here on terra firma. "I mean, if it works with saliva, it will certainly work with water from the environment; it could work with material isolated from insects and plants and trees. So we could do all kinds of environmental sensing." That’s Matthew Coleman, a senior research scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He says that if they can make a handheld diagnostic device like this rugged enough for space, it would also be perfect in the African desert. "We’re thinking of something that’s doesn’t require a cold storage, so you don’t have to keep it in the refrigerator until you use it. You’ll just have to add water or an actual blood or saliva or breath condensate sample."