DIY mass spectrometer measures potassium in dietary salt substitute [video]

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12 points·tau255··4 comments

This is in the "Applied Science" channel. The idea of what is a DIY project of this guy is very high. The videos are very interesting, but expect a lot of work to reproduce it.

Also, it's interesting to notice that the project is somewhat based in an old Scientific American article. In the old times, the articles in that publication were much more technical than the current ones.

To me, this doesn't seem more technically involved than many DIY software projects that wind up on the HN front page. The big difference I see is meat operations require workspaces. A laptop isn't enough. Control of suitable real-estate is probably the highest barrier other than ordinary commitment. A shop makes making things easier or a lab for doing science.

This is not one of the more technical crazy projects in the channel [1], but he use two vacuum pump (it's necessary because one work at normal pressure and the other work near vacuum) and he has another one that he is not using. Also soldering the OpAmp is not very difficult, but at this amplification level my nasty cold welding will probably cause problems.

[1] Have you seen the one about aerogels? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X24np30GS2o

Thanks. The aerogel video was awesome. I have a friend who freelances organic cosmetics benchwork on the dining room table. Chemistry PhD. Stainless pots, white powders, and picks up the kids from practice. Doing something all the time normalizes it.

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