Has Your Drink Been Spiked? This Sensor Could Let You Know

August 6, 2011 12:28 PM EDT

Israeli scientists have created a sensor that would make it easy for women to detect whether their drinks have been spiked with two of the most common date rape drugs, the Agence France-Presse has reported.

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Tel Aviv University professors Fernando Patolsky and Michael Ioffe are still developing the product, but results so far have been 100 percent accurate.

The device, which the scientists said should resemble a straw or stirrer in the final production, will be very small and low-maintenance. It was tested on both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, including soda.

"You just dip it into your drink," Ioffe told the AFP.

The sensor works by picking up a bit of alcohol and mixing it with a patent chemical formula, which was also developed by Patolsky and Ioffe.

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So far, the sensor can detect gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) and ketamine. The scientists want to develop the sensor to detect Rohypnol, commonly known as "roofies."

The sensor never failed to detect the presence of the two drugs. It can be used several times until it detects a drug.

The scientists are not sure yet how the sensor will alert the user, but they are keeping subtlety in mind.

"We haven't decided how it will let you know. Maybe it will just light up or a part of it will rotate or maybe it will send a signal to your cell phone because you want to be discreet about it," Ioffe said.

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