If two South Korean researchers have their way, the days of needing specialized equipment to test whether someone has strep, the flu, or other common illnesses may soon be numbered. The pair want to check for disease markers in a tiny drop of a bodily fluid by pressing it against a touchscreen, so your diagnosis could come straight from your smart phone. While there's no app for that yet, the scientists recently finished a proof-of-concept study showing that a touchscreen could differentiate between various concentrations of bacterial DNA---a first step towards diagnosing your disease by spitting on your iPad. How the Heck:
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Touchscreens like those in smartphones and tablets work by detecting changes in capacitance, or how much electric charge a material can store. When you're using your phone, the touchscreen senses the relatively large capacitance change of fingertip vs. no fingertip. But, the researchers knew, touchscreens ...
