News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on A form of mass spectrometry to detect traces of substances within a fingerprint.

Re:A form of mass spectrometry to detect traces of substance... by tomalpha on Wednesday October 11, 2017 @08:23AM (#15449142)
Mass spectrometry has been around for decades now. I remember seeing old (before even my time) manual plots on graph paper from the '60s. Without wishing to detract from the researchers accomplishments, why hasn't this been done before? What special thing are they doing that wasn't possible before?
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:A form of mass spectrometry to detect traces of substance... by sigstoat on Wednesday October 11, 2017 @09:20AM (#15449476)
MS as a concept has been around, but new and more sensitive detector designs are developed every so often. new ionization techniques come along as well, which can generate ions from smaller and smaller sample quantities with less and less preparation.

that article is devoid of useful information, but i'd guess this is the result of one of the new ionization techniques, and it took some years after its commercial introduction to be validated for forensic use.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:A form of mass spectrometry to detect traces of substance... by tomalpha on Wednesday October 11, 2017 @09:36AM (#15449592)
Ah interesting, thanks. Googling a bit more for ionization techniques suggests you might be right, and it might be: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix-assisted_laser_desorpti... (based on a reference in http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/new...)
[ Parent | on HN ]