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Glowing nanowires have been developed to detect traces of explosives. The
nanowires, which are made from silicon-based polymers called polysiloles,
fluoresce when ultraviolet light is shone on them. But when TNT or picric
acid—a chemical used to make explosives—comes into contact with the
nanowires, it oxidises them and stops the wires fluorescing. “It’s like a
glowing light bulb filament that suddenly comes into contact with
oxygen—the light burns out,” says their creator, Michael Sailor of the
University of California at San Diego. The nanowires can be dissolved in
solvents and sprayed on filter paper, for example, to…