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BEIJING, Oct. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- A new device has been invented by a 13-year-old to tell if a driver has been drinking or used other drugs based on how dilated his or her pupils are.
To check if drivers have consumed alcohol, a widely used method is to use breathalyzers, which measure the alcohol content in a breath sample, but not if they've had other drugs.
The 13-year-old Krishna Reddy from Wichita Falls, Texas, has come up with a simple tool that can detect drivers who have been drinking, smoking marijuana, or if they've used certain painkillers, sleep aids, or amphetamines.
The device contains a digital camera, a snakehead flashlight, and a toilet paper roll.
It works like this: The flashlight is held up to the eye, and the toilet roll directs the light onto the pupil. Then, the digital camera takes video of the pupil as it contracts. Using a software program Reddy wrote, the device and a computer measures the constriction of the pupil when the light is shone on it.
The inventor Reddy is one of 10 finalists in the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge, an annual competition for the title of America's Top Young Scientist and a 25,000 U.S.-dollar prize. The finals will take place on Oct. 12 and 13.
(Agencies)
