Film can identify spoiled food by changing colour.
A South-Korean based research team is relying on a similar concept to prevent people from consuming spiked drinks.
The team developed a gel-film, intended as a temporary tattoo, to detect colourless GHB drugs – sometimes known as ‘liquid ecstasy’. Perpetrators mix them with drinks to induce stupors and make people vulnerable to sexual assault.
Agents in the gel were able to detect 0.01 micrograms of GHB in as little as a single millilitre of alcoholic beverages or coffee, subsequently turning red. Meaning wearers could protect themselves with a single drop.
The evidence stays visible for 30 days – longer than in urine or blood (12 or 8 hours, respectively).
Jellyfish also uncover wrongdoers.
