Surgical face masks help prevent the spread of airborne pathogens and therefore were ubiquitous during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, a modified mask could also protect a wearer by detecting health conditions, including chronic kidney disease. Researchers reporting in ACS Sensors incorporated a specialized breath sensor within the fabric of a face mask to detect metabolites associated with the disease. In initial tests, the sensor correctly identified people with the condition most of the time.

New research has shown how small, inexpensive drones combined with free, open source software can be used by community forest organisations to calculate and monitor the amount of carbon stored in their forests.  

The Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) research enterprise in Singapore, has launched a new interdisciplinary research group (IRG), Wafer-scale Integrated Sensing Devices based on Optoelectronic Metasurfaces (WISDOM), focused on developing next-generation 3D-sensing technologies for practical use across industries such as automotive, consumer electronics, aerospace and healthcare, among others.