If Only It Could Make Coffee, Too

The Scientist has a run-down of interesting experiments that can, unexpectedly, be done with a mass spec. Lebanon Valley College's Anderson Marsh used his MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer to determine the size of nanoparticles that he is working with and the FDA's Douglas Hayward is developing MS methods to detecting pesticides in dietary supplements. Mass spec can be applied to many projects. "Traditionally it was a technique for looking at relatively small compounds across environmental issues, industrial applications, contaminants, and so on," says FDA's John Callahan.