A new wipe will make collecting forensic evidence from bomb sites quicker and
more effective. Michael Sigman, a chemist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory
in Tennessee, uses a dry Teflon cloth to collect particles of explosives.
Heating the cloth releases the sample for on-site analysis. Other wipes contain
solvents, which can dissolve paint and other contaminants. So before samples
taken with such wipes can be analysed, they must be purified in a laboratory,
which usually involves discarding most of the material of interest along with
the contaminants. The dry wipes should be more sensitive because the entire
sample can be analysed.
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features

Technology
'Green' cryptocurrency uses 18 times more energy than makers claim
News

ÎçÒ¹¸£Àû1000¼¯ºÏ
Your oral microbiome could affect your weight, liver and diabetes risk
News

Humans
Human heads have changed shape a lot in the past 100 years
News

ÎçÒ¹¸£Àû1000¼¯ºÏ
Doubts cast over 'wild' claim that magnetic control can turn on genes
News
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
We have figured out a new way to send messages into the past
2
Human heads have changed shape a lot in the past 100 years
3
Thought-provoking photographs capture what it feels like to have ADHD
4
100-year-old assumption about the universe may soon be overturned
5
Weird 'transdimensional' state of matter is neither 2D nor 3D
6
The best new science fiction books of May 2026
7
The bombshell results that demand a new theory of the universe
8
Is consciousness more fundamental to reality than quantum physics?
9
Largest-ever octopus was great white shark of invertebrate predators
10
We may finally have a cure for many different autoimmune conditions