Some exotic physics in this
device (developed at Vanderbilt and Fisk Universities) with some exciting space applications may get the interest of students.
"...a new generation of gamma-ray spectroscope that appears perfectly suited for detecting veins of gold, platinum, rare earths and other valuable material hidden within the asteroids, moons and other airless objects floating around the solar system"
"The key to the new instrument is a recently discovered material, europium-doped strontium iodide. This is a transparent crystal that can act as an extremely efficient gamma-ray detector. It registers the passage of gamma rays by giving off flashes of light that can be detected and recorded."
