00:02Using a laser to look for traces for deadly methanol.
00:05We make a cone-shaped beam and this allows us to go through the bottle
00:10and we avoid all the signals coming from the glass.
00:13It scatters from the whisky, it changes colour ever so slightly
00:16and how it changes colour gives us a unique fingerprint
00:18that tells us what chemicals are inside the whisky.
00:21Hundreds of people die every year from methanol poisoning.
00:24In 2024, six people, including Australians Holly Morton-Bowles
00:28and Bianca Jones died after drinking tainted cocktails
00:32in a Laos backpackers' hostel.
00:34The new technology can trace methanol in any type of alcohol.
00:38With all of this combined, we can detect methanol
00:42at a concentration of 0.2% inside any bottle,
00:47it doesn't matter which colour the glass is.
00:49The gold standard test involves opening the container
00:52and analysing it in a lab.
00:54While researchers expect that to continue,
00:57the laser test could be a more portable alternative.
01:00When we make this handheld, I think this could be used,
01:03for example, in distilleries, but more broadly in bars
01:06or at border control or anywhere really.
01:09Every year, thousands of people around the world
01:12suffer from methanol poisoning.
01:14The chemical can be illegally added to alcoholic beverages,
01:18but it can also be accidentally introduced
01:21during poor quality alcohol distillation,
01:24a particular risk in popular overseas destinations.
01:28The technology is quite simple,
01:30so in practice it should be able to be implemented
01:33in real life and help people.
01:37A simple technology which could save lives.
01:39What do you think is that the main tools
01:39that allow people to show you
01:40What do you think is the main tools
01:43that equip you with your own technology?
01:44What does that do?
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