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Electronic Nose Goes to War (March 28, 2003, Two)

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Program Summary

World War I saw the introduction by the German army of an awful new weapon: mustard gas, which killed and maimed thousands of soldiers. The suffering inflicted by the gas was so horrific that chemical warfare was banned following the conflict. The ban has been observed by the world for nearly a century, with some notable exceptions: the Nazis, who performed biological and chemical experiments on concentration camp inmates and executed millions of them with poisonous gas; and the Japanese, who are alleged to have used similar tactics in conflicts with China and Korea. Iraq almost certainly used chemical weapons during the Iran-Iraq war, and then turned them on their own people, the Kurds, in 1988. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Kurds were killed.The current war in Iraq was brought on by Saddam Hussein’s disregard for the terms of the 1991 Gulf War ceasefire, which demanded the destruction of all chemical and biological weapons. There is an expectation that he may use them against coalition forces during this conflict.

Coalition soldiers are well-protected. Not only do they have the latest in protective outerwear and gas masks, but they are also guarded by electronic noses. Yes, you read it right—electronic noses (e-noses for short), which are actually mechanical devices with sensors that detect toxic chemicals and biological agents in gas form. Coalition forces used toxin detectors during the 1991 Gulf War, but those required that substance or soil samples be taken in order to perform analyses. The e-nose, on the other hand, is able to detect toxin molecules in the air and can do it at a distance, providing warnings far enough ahead that soldiers have time to don their gear before the poison reaches them. The e-noses are set up in a network like circled wagons around the camp, and individual ones accompany mobile laboratories that can be used when the troops are on the move.

The e-nose is a fairly recent development; prototypes were built in the mid-1990s and were quickly adopted by industry to do what human noses have traditionally done, such as check for food spoilage, roast coffee to perfection, and balance the fragrance in perfume. They can detect polluting chemicals in the air, helping factories and the EPA clean up the environment. In recent years e-noses have been tested for medical diagnoses such as tuberculosis and pneumonia. The bacteria that cause these diseases give off distinct odors, which the sensitive e-nose is able to “smell” long before the doctor can.

The e-nose is based on the olfactory model of the dog, which has one of the keenest senses of smell of any creature on earth. Dogs’ olfactory systems are able to pick up the slightest smell and separate it from others, an ability that enables them to be trained to detect specific things, such as drugs, bombs, illegal foods, people buried under snow, and criminals trying to hide. Like a dog, the e-nose must also be “trained” (or, rather, tuned) to sense specific substances. The e-nose has some advantages over a dog—it’s smaller, doesn’t need upkeep, doesn’t get olfactory fatigue, and in many instances is just as sensitive as a canine nose. But it’s far more expensive (starting at $10,000) and doesn’t have the wide range of a dog’s nose. It also won’t nuzzle you on a cold winter night.

Guests

Retired General Walter Busbee, business executive for the Counterproliferation and Homeland Security Program at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, and chair of the chemical biological defense division of the National Defense Industrial Association in Arlington, Virginia

Related Links and Resources

BBCNews.com, Aug 15, 2001: “Electronic Nose Sniffs Out TB”
Illinois Institute of Technology: The Electronic Nose at IIT
NewYorkTimes.com, March 24, 2003: “Lab Technicians Eagerly Await Work
PetNews, Aug. 24, 2000: “Mechanical Dogs Designed to Sniff Out Landmines”
PetNews, Nov. 26, 2001: “Sniffer Dogs Often Better Than Machines”
ScienceDaily.com, Mar. 18, 1998: “Electronic Nose Knows When Seafood Is Safe”
ScienceDaily.com, Oct. 1, 1998: “Electronic Nose Inspects Cheese, Hints At Human Sense Of Smell”
ScienceDaily.com, Nov. 6, 2002: “Beating Pneumonia By A Nose: Electronic Nose Detects Pneumonia In Critically Ill Patients”
Wired News, Sep. 29, 1999: Electronic Nose Smells Illness”

For Discussion:

• How does an e-nose work?
• What applications could an e-nose have?
• What do you think an e-nose looks like?
• Have any other electronic body parts been developed?
• How long does it take for your nose to get tired of smelling something?

Activities

Nosing into space. NASA has adapted the e-nose to detect gas leaks aboard space shuttle missions. Find information about the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s research at NASA Spaceplace: Let's Get Nosey! Students can train their noses to detect different smells by following the activity instructions there.

What’s in a name? Manufacturers have given their e-noses some imaginative names, i.e. Cyranose, Diag-nose. Have students come up with a few names of their own.

ZZZZZ. The teacher resource page at Neuroscience for Kids: Chemical Senses has an experiment that tests olfactory fatigue. Visit “Smell” (March 10, 2000) at Science Friday Kid’s Connection for more resources and olfactory experiments.

Smells like... Every perfume company has an expert mixer known as “the nose.” It’s a very difficult job and takes years of training to become good at it. Students can test their ability to differentiate odors with this activity: With eyes closed, have students smell individual essential flower oils and name them. Then mix two or more together and see if the students can detect the individual odors.

Gotcha! Many excellent sites discuss detector dogs of all types. The following are just a few.

• NationalGeographicNews.com, July 12, 2002: “'Detector Dogs' Sniff Out Smugglers for U.S. Customs”
• United States Department of Agriculture: Detector Dogs—an in-depth look at the many jobs that detector dogs have, from the famous airport Beagle Brigade to the Jack Russell terrier team of Guam
• CIA Kids: Canine Corps—follow the training and adventures of the search dogs of the Central Intelligence Agency. Depending on your location, invite a police K-9 team, a search-and-rescue team, or a Beagle Brigade team to do a demonstration for the school.

Use the search box below to perform a Google search within any of the specifc sites or general domains mentioned in this Activities section.

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