[Tyler]

Tricorder gadget works with phones to study chemical makeup of ANY object
1 April 2015, 12:00 am

                    Technology that claims to transform any smartphone into a Star Trek-style tricorder is set to be unveiled in Israel. The company behind the device says it has the potential to break down the chemical components of almost any object from a distance.

Daily Mail - Sciencetech (UK)Link

Source: AI in the News

To visit any links mentioned please view the original article, the link is at the top of this post.

[ivan.moony]

Chemical components of distant stars can be discovered by analysis of their emition spectral lines.

Emition lines of stars look like this:

and they are emitted when a matter is in higher energy state like heat or something.

Absorption spectral lines look like this:

and they are absorbed when a matter is not in higher energy state.


Every element absorbs certain wave lengths of light and that makes a fingerprint of an element. I believe that they use a phone camera to isolate these lines. I'm still not sure how they can tell monochrome light from compound one, as recognizing the monochrome light is an essential in emitive spectral line analysis. I guess recognizing monochromatic light is not needed for absorption spectral line analysis in contrast to analysis of emitive lines.

[Freddy]

I bet this is an April Fools joke.

[ivan.moony]

maybe Tyler developed a sense of humor

[Freddy]

This is always a possibility 

[Art]

Yep, Ivan kind of beat me to it. I was going to ask if Tyler had an understanding of humor, especially with regard to April Fool's Day?
There's no Fool like an April Fool! ... or so it goes....