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Technology

Robotic hand pokes food and water to tell if they have mercury in them

A robotic hand with a tiny sensor on one of its fingers can detect potentially harmful mercury ions in samples of food and water by prodding them

By Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

6 February 2023

91av. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Snigdha Roy Barman et al.

A robotic hand equipped with a tiny sensor can detect harmful mercury ions in water or food by poking them.

The considers mercury a chemical of major public health concern because it can cause health issues if consumed via contaminated water or animals that have been exposed to it. Methods for detecting mercury in food and the environment exist, but most involve complicated and costly laboratory equipment and sometimes long processing times. So at National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan and her colleagues decided to develop a quicker and simpler approach.

Their sensor is…

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