Most of us assume that our supermarkets will never sell us food that has gone bad, and for the most part this seems to be true. While some fruits, vegetables, and meats might not be as fresh as we would like if we were to go to the source like a butchers or farmer’s market, they are in relatively good condition. However once in a while we do get a bad piece of fruit or meat, but thanks to the folks at MIT, hopefully purchasing food that has gone bad will be a thing of the past. 

Your smartphone will soon be able to detect gases and pollutants, thanks to a simple sensor recently developed by chemists in MIT. The sensor known as CARD can be used in many different ways. For example, the sensor can be installed in a special device that could detect food spoilage in warehouses and monitor public establishments. Other gases that can be detected by the sensor include cyclohexanone, hydrogen peroxide, and gaseous ammonia among others. The sensor is cheap so anyone can easily use it. Gather a few sensors and they can help read whatever your want to detect. It doesn’t have any wiring at all so expect powerless and wireless detection according to Chemistry Professor Timothy Swager at MIT. “You can get quite imaginative as to what you might want to do with a technology like this,” he said.