This E-Nose Sniffs Out the Good Whiskey (ieee.org) 10
Slashdot reader Hmmmmmm quotes IEEE Spectrum:
A whiskey connoisseur can take a whiff of a dram and know exactly the brand, region, and style of whiskey in hand. But how do our human noses compare to electronic noses in distinguishing the qualities of a whiskey? A study published 1 February in IEEE Sensors Journal describes a new e-nose that is surprisingly accurate at analyzing whiskies — and can identify the brand of whiskey with more than 95 percent accuracy after just one "whiff."
E-noses have been gaining in popularity over recent years thanks to their range of valuable applications, from sensing when crops are ready for harvest to identifying food products on the cusp of expiring. It is perhaps unsurprising that many e-noses have also been developed to analyze alcoholic beverages, including whiskey, which had an estimated international market worth US $58 billion in 2018 alone. "This lucrative industry has the potential to be a target of fraudulent activities such as mislabeling and adulteration," explains Steven Su, an associate professor at the Faculty of Engineering and IT, University of Technology Sydney....
Su and his colleagues sought to adapt one of their e-noses so that it could analyze some key qualities of whiskey. Their original e-nose was designed to detect illegal animal parts sold on the black market, such as rhino horns, and they have since also adapted their e-nose for breath analysis and assessing food quality. Their newest, whiskey-sniffing e-nose, called Nos.e, contains a little vial where the whiskey sample is added. The scent of the whiskey is injected into a gas sensor chamber, which detects the various odors and sends the data to a computer for analysis. The most important scent features are then extracted and analyzed by machine learning algorithms designed to recognize the brand, region, and style of whiskey.
E-noses have been gaining in popularity over recent years thanks to their range of valuable applications, from sensing when crops are ready for harvest to identifying food products on the cusp of expiring. It is perhaps unsurprising that many e-noses have also been developed to analyze alcoholic beverages, including whiskey, which had an estimated international market worth US $58 billion in 2018 alone. "This lucrative industry has the potential to be a target of fraudulent activities such as mislabeling and adulteration," explains Steven Su, an associate professor at the Faculty of Engineering and IT, University of Technology Sydney....
Su and his colleagues sought to adapt one of their e-noses so that it could analyze some key qualities of whiskey. Their original e-nose was designed to detect illegal animal parts sold on the black market, such as rhino horns, and they have since also adapted their e-nose for breath analysis and assessing food quality. Their newest, whiskey-sniffing e-nose, called Nos.e, contains a little vial where the whiskey sample is added. The scent of the whiskey is injected into a gas sensor chamber, which detects the various odors and sends the data to a computer for analysis. The most important scent features are then extracted and analyzed by machine learning algorithms designed to recognize the brand, region, and style of whiskey.
Alcohol is a drug. (Score:2)
The referenced article is about something wonderful: Technological advancement is happening FAR FASTER than before.
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Alcohol is a drug that should not be used. -- My opinion.
More for the rest of us then.
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I'll drink to that.
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Agreed, nothing in the market now compares to good single-malt scotch, despite the price inflation.
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Good but whiskey isn't so important. (Score:2)
It's fantastic that they have made a better e-nose because being able to detect smell is very important. Specifically, we have people that smell foods (especially seafood) for a living in order to tell if they are contaminated and/or spoiled. There are some humans with an absurdly well honed sense of smell and the ability to discern the faintest odors. Sure, they don't hold a candle to dogs but there are problems training dogs to smell foods, namely it's too tempting and they shed.
If the whole e-nose tec
Not just a mechanical task (Score:2)
a new e-nose that is surprisingly accurate at analyzing whiskies — and can identify the brand of whiskey with more than 95 percent accuracy after just one "whiff."
Sure. But does it get any enjoyment from doing so?
It would be funny if after "having a few" (Score:2)
The device produced erratic results, and if capable of output that one could anthropomorphize, started to "behave" in a tipsy fashion.
"report status"
"Wheee!"
Always one step ahead of yesterday. (Score:2)