Invention detects ripeness from aromas

KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
So how many times have you stood in a supermarket juggling fruit?
Is it ripe? Is it fresh? Is it rotten? You listen to it. Squeeze it. You enlist opinions from strangers.
Now real help is on the way. In the "Coolest Inventions" section, Time magazine says a New Zealand firm has developed a sensor that detects ripe pears from the aromas emitted by the fruit. Placed just inside the plastic wrapping, it goes from red to orange to yellow as the fruit comes of age. Sensors for other fruits such as avocados, melons and mangos are in the works, Time says.