Scientists develop breath test to ID people and check health
Breathing into a bag or tube usually means you've been pulled over by police who want to check for drinking and driving can lead to the loss of a driving licence or even imprisonment.
But a team of scientists have found every breath you take to be like a fingerprint that discloses who you are with 97% accuracy and can be assessed for "insights" into physical and even mental health.
"You would think that breathing has been measured and analyzed in every way," said Noam Sobel, one of a team of researchers based at the Weizmann Institute of Science near Tel Aviv who said they "stumbled upon a completely new way to look at respiration" they describe as "a brain readout."
The researchers tracked breathing in 100 "healthy young adults" over 24 hours using a "lightweight wearable device" they made and found that the "high-level accuracy" of the tests "remained consistent across multiple retests conducted over a two-year period."
Most breathing tests last less than half an hour, meaning such "brief snapshots" cannot assess "subtle patterns," according to the team, which had its findings published in the Cell Press journal Current Biology.
"I thought it would be really hard to identify someone because everyone is doing different things, like running, studying, or resting," said researcher Timna Soroka. But according to the team, the breathing test rivals "the precision of some voice recognition technologies."
"It turns out their breathing patterns were remarkably distinct," Soroka said, following the longer-than-usual test, which not only could identify people but provide signals related to health.
The Israel-based team said that the tests showed breathing to be "correlated with a person's body mass index, sleep-wake cycle, levels of depression and anxiety, and even behavioural traits."
"For example, participants who scored relatively higher on anxiety questionnaires had shorter inhales and more variability in the pauses between breaths during sleep," the researchers reported.
The team's laboratory's prior investigations of olfaction in animals got them thinking that since mammals' brains process odour information during inhalation, there could be some value in testing whether there people have a unique breathing pattern in the same way each brain is unique.
The findings follow the development over the past decade of gadgets that can identify people by how they walk, with so-called gait recognition technology used by police in China in street cameras since at least 2018.
It all means that with every breath you take and every move you make, they might some day be watching - and identifying - you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
7 hours ago
- New York Post
Grieving parents awarded $2.25M after Georgia doctor plastered videos of their decapitated baby on social media
A Georgia couple whose baby was decapacitated during childbirth was awarded a $2.25 million verdict after their pathologist posted graphic autopsy videos on social media without their consent. Dr. Jackson Gates and his Atlanta-based business will have to fork over the large sum to Jessica Ross and Traveon Taylor Sr. after a Fulton County jury found him liable of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, and fraud on Wednesday. 'This young couple trusted him with the remains of their precious baby,' attorney's for the grieving parents said, noting that the doctor 'poured salt into the couple's already deep wounds.' 3 Jessica Ross and Treveon Taylor Sr., parents of a baby who was decapitated during childbirth. AP 'Gates, in turn, repaid this trust by posting horrific images of their child for the world to see.' The heartbroken couple hired the twisted doctor to perform an autopsy on their deceased newborn two days after their obstetrician allegedly applied excessive force to the baby's neck when its shoulders became stuck in Ross's pelvic area, causing it to detach during the traumatic July 2023 delivery. 3 The traumatic delivery occurred at Southern Regional Medical Center in July 2023. ERIK S LESSER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock The baby's head was delivered vaginally, but the rest of the body was removed via C-section. The death was later ruled a homicide. Gates posted numerous videos and photos to his Instagram later that month, showing the grisly postmortem examination of their infants 'decapitated, severed head,' the couple said in their lawsuit. The deranged pathologist initially removed the footage after receiving a letter from the couple's attorney — but later reposted them, according to the lawsuit. 3 The couple was awarded $2.25 million in a lawsuit against their pathologist. AP Gates' attorney, Ira Livant, said his client typically documents his autopsy's on social media to educate fellow pathologists and highlight the importance of independent examinations in cases where families suspect medical misconduct. 'Dr. Gates testified that he is deeply sorry for any harm that he unintentionally caused the plaintiffs,' Livant said Saturday. 'Had he known for one second that they would see that and that they would know it was their child, he would never have done it.' The couple will receive $2 million in compensatory damages and an additional $250,000 in punitive damages from Gates and his company, Medical Diagnostics Choices, per the judgement. The bereaved parents have separate lawsuits pending against the delivering doctor and the Riverdale hospital where the horrific incident took place. With Post wires.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
US-backed Gaza aid group says people 'desperately need more aid'
A privately run aid organisation brought in to distribute food rations in war-hit Gaza last month with US and Israeli backing said on Saturday that people in the Palestinian territory "desperately need more aid". The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began operations at the end of May when Israel eased a two-month blockade on Gaza that the United Nations said had produced famine-like conditions. The foundation's operations have been marred by chaotic scenes and neutrality concerns, while many Gazans have been left with few other options to obtain food. In a statement on Saturday, GHF interim executive director John Acree said that the organisation was "delivering aid at scale, securely and effectively... But we cannot meet the full scale of need while large parts of Gaza remain closed." He added: "The people of Gaza desperately need more aid and we are ready to partner with other humanitarian groups to expand our reach to those who need help the most." "We are working with the government of Israel to honour its commitment and open additional sites in northern Gaza." According to figures issued on Saturday by the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, at least 450 people have been killed and nearly 3,500 injured by Israeli fire while seeking aid since late May, many near GHF sites according to rescuers. GHF has denied responsibility for deaths near its aid points, contradicting statements from witnesses and Gaza rescue services. It has said deaths have occurred near UN food convoys. Gaza's civil defence agency said Saturday that Israeli troops had killed another eight people who were seeking food. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that three people were killed by gunfire in the southern Gaza Strip, with another five killed in a central area known as the Netzarim corridor, where thousands of Palestinians have gathered daily in the hope of receiving rations from a GHF centre. Israeli restrictions on media in the Gaza Strip and difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers and authorities. UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with GHF over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives. On Tuesday, the UN's World Health Organization pleaded for fuel to be allowed into Gaza to keep its remaining hospitals running, warning the Palestinian territory's health system was at "breaking point". adp/ami
UPI
10 hours ago
- UPI
NIH office to phase out HIV guidelines by next year
The National Institutes of Health office responsible for issuing federal guidelines related to treatment of HIV and AIDS patients in the United States is making major changes. File Photo by Annabelle Gordon/UPI | License Photo June 21 (UPI) -- The National Institutes of Health office responsible for issuing federal guidelines related to treatment of HIV and AIDS patients in the United States is making major changes. The NIH Office of AIDS Research or OAR told its employees this week it intends to phase out the guidelines by next June, the Washington Post reported, citing an internal staff email. According to the office, OAR "coordinates HIV/AIDS research across the National Institutes of Health and provides the largest public investment in HIV/AIDS research globally." "In the climate of budget decreases and revised priorities, OAR is beginning to explore options to transfer management of the guidelines to another agency within" the letter obtained by The Post reads. The OAR guidelines contain guidelines related to diagnosis and treatments of HIV and AIDS. There are currently more than 1 million people living with HIV in the United States. It was not immediately clear what the other agency referred to in the letter was or how such a move may affect the guideline, the Post reported. The news comes as President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio move to cut over $8 billion from the U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID and merge it into the State Department. State Department officials say the move comes with the expectation that other countries will increase their roles in delivering aid around the world. An April report published in the Lancet medical journal found around half a million children globally could die from AIDS by 2030 if the United States cuts its global relief funding. Earlier this week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved use of the HIV drug lenacapavir, which is produced by California-based biopharma firm Gilead Sciences under the name Yeztugo. "Yeztugo is one of the most important scientific breakthroughs of our time and offers a very real opportunity to help end the HIV epidemic," Gilead Science Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Daniel O'Day said in a statement on the company's website
