A chemical sensor developed by researchers at the University of Tennessee and the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant is inexpensive, small and reportedly portable, and it was honored this week as one of the year’s top technological innovations.

The project is known as ChIMES (Chemical Identification by Magneto-Elastic Sensing). It’s designed as a low-cost option for “virtually limitless applications, including detection of chemical and biological warfare agents, toxic industrial chemicals, explosives and illegal drugs.”

According to information released by Consolidated Nuclear Security, the government’s managing contractor at Y-12, the sensor was the product of a three-year collaboration between researchers at UT and Y-12.

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