Asbestos detector

A novel device for detecting asbestos fibres has been developed by Paul Kaye
and colleagues at the University of Hertfordshire. Kaye has discovered that
micrometre-sized particles of blue and white asbestos scatter light in different
ways. In the detector developed at the university the wiggly white asbestos
fibres produce spoke patterns, and the long, thin fibres of blue asbestos
produce lines. The detector works in seconds—far faster than existing
detection methods.