Final answer:
The first item scanned with a barcode was a packet of Wrigley's chewing gum in 1974. Barcodes and barcode scanners, which utilize laser beam technology, have since become integral to numerous industries including retail and inventory management, as well as in global biodiversity research initiatives like BIOSCAN.
Step-by-step explanation:
The first item ever scanned with a barcode was a packet of Wrigley's chewing gum on June 26, 1974, at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio. This marked a significant milestone in how business and transactions would operate in the future. The use of barcodes revolutionized the tracking of products in a variety of industries, from retail to inventory management. The barcode scanner technology uses a laser beam to read barcodes, much like how CDs are read by interpreting the reflections of a laser beam from their surface.
In the context of global research and biodiversity, barcodes have an even broader application. Organizations like BIOSCAN are expanding the use of barcode technology to identify and catalog species by their unique DNA sequences. This approach speeds up the process of species identification, which is a vital part of understanding and preserving biodiversity across the planet.