Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists are using a new technique to see fingerprints on surfaces that typically make them invisible.

　　The method uses a technology called mini-X-ray fluorescence to detect chemical elements in fingerprints without altering them, said Christopher Worley, a scientist on the project.

　　"The conventional methods are meant to bring out fingerprint patterns with regular light and they have to treat those with powder, which alters them," Worley said. "With this you don’t have to alter it or treat it at all. We can determine the elements in a fingerprint and get a pattern at the same time."

　　The technology focuses a tight beam of X-rays on surfaces with fingerprints and creates a computer picture out of those scans.

　　The equipment costs about $175,000.

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