WHAT鈥橲 that gassy smell? The hypersensitive methane detector on NASA鈥檚 Mars rover Curiosity is being repurposed to ferret out gas leaks on Earth. The Pacific Gas and Electric Company in San Francisco, and global energy giant Chevron, are testing a handheld, earthbound version that is 1000 times as sensitive as existing methane sniffers.
The device looks like 鈥渁 funky golf club鈥� with a laser at the end, says PG&E spokesperson Hailey Wilson. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the same technology as on Mars,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hen it picks up trace amounts of methane, it kind of sings to the operator, and changes pitch depending on the concentration.鈥�
Cliff Johnson, president of the Pipeline Research Council International, says the detector will help find leaks in pipelines before they get large. 鈥淚t鈥檚 become a critical issue for the industry.鈥�
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This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淪mells like Curiosity鈥�
