The Original 12/06

Top articles include a new "Spectral Frontiers" column and post-conference coverage of the 2026 SciX show in Sparks, Nevada.

In this interview segment from SciX, Juergen Popp explains why molecular “twins” built from optical measurements could reach patients within a decade, provided the field builds the regulatory, computing, and standards ecosystem around the technology.

Siddhartha Das explains how machine learning helps his group sift through roughly a trillion simulation data points. It reveals water and electroosmotic flow behavior and could speed the design of sensor-like channels.

In his SciX interview, Marc Porter discusses what happens to hydrogen when thiols bind to gold, how close analytical chemists can get to detecting a single molecule in a liter, and his new PFAS-focused startup.

From quarry fingerprints to bat-driven salt damage and hidden wall paintings, portable X-ray fluorescence, Raman spectroscopy, and isotope analysis are revealing how Angkor Wat was built and what threatens it today.

Yukihiro Ozaki of Kwansei Gakuin University received the Raman Lifetime Award at ICORS 2026 in Istanbul for outstanding lifetime contributions to Raman spectroscopy.

At SciX, Alessandro De Giacomo explained how airborne LIBS can produce quantitative results. Instead of relying on reference measurements, the method draws calibration directly from the measured signal, which sidesteps the drone’s positioning and motion problems.

At SciX, Jürgen Popp explains how miniaturized optical spectroscopy could add molecular data to wearable health tracking, which could enable earlier disease detection and a shift toward prevention.