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Interesting point. Are there sensors/tools other than a spectrograph that could help? Some clever use of a camera or something?



I won't claim it's impossible, but... olfaction boils down to a small molecule protein interaction, similar to drug discovery. The scales in question are far too small for typical imaging devices; these objects are far smaller than the wavelength of visible light. CryoEM and X-ray diffraction are used in these domains, but don't apply in the manner you appear to have in mind. I suppose CryoEM technically counts as "clever use of a camera" though.


Your comment lead me down an interesting rabbit hole. Stumbled across this which might count - "Photoacoustic spectroscopy has become a powerful technique to study concentrations of gases at the part per billion or even part per trillion levels." https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Physical_and_Theoret...




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