cleanliness
Latest
Violight goes ultraviolent on your gadgets, leaves germ corpses in its wake
Violight has been in the business of UV-based germicide since way back in 2004, but now it's bringing its wares closer to our geeky hearts. Its new Cell Phone Sanitizer will nuke 99 percent of all germs and bacteria slithering around your phone or MP3 player, and it'll do it in under 5 minutes too. Or such is the claim, anyhow. Alternative applications for this ultra-versatile product include using it as gift packaging or as a display stand in stores -- you've got to love that added value right there. Some patience will be required before you lay down $49.95 for your very own UV zapper, as Violight's Sanitizer isn't hitting the market until at least October. Video teaser's ready right now, though, just after the break.
Bacteria-killing prototype relies on plasma, could obsolete hand washing
Time to get your science fiction hats on, but leave the fiction visor off this time. The BBC has gotten all hot and bothered today about a newly published research report indicating a significant advancement in the field of plasma-based disinfection of both healthy and wounded human skin. Yes, the same stuff that drives your big-ass television is also capable -- in a gaseous form -- of interacting with the oxygen, nitrogen, and water vapor in the air to create a concoction lethal to bacteria and fungi, but innocuous to humanoids. The big breakthrough here is that mass production of such devices is finally possible at rates affordable enough to makes them commonplace in hospitals, tattoo shops and the like. Additionally, an argon-based "plasma torch" has been shown to accelerate wound healing, though it's not certain whether this happens through the particular effects of the plasma, or through the reduction of bacteria infesting the wound. The fact the researchers themselves don't know is both unnerving and strangely fun at the same time. We've got a shot of the prototype after the break and the entire paper is available at the read link, if you feel like a geek binge.
New Scientist and MIT track your trash for the good of the planet
On a long enough timeline, all gadgets, white goods, furniture and consumables end up in the trash bin, and the latest tech from MIT is designed to track their subsequent journey from your porch to the great beyond. Partnering with the New Scientist magazine, researchers are hoping that by mapping where garbage ends up, they can awaken that atrophied muscle of environmental awareness in us all. The project will attach SIM cards to particular items of trash, which will beep out their location information every 15 minutes. You might think this somewhat underwhelming -- given all the bells, whistles and bomb-proofing that garbage cans have been adorned with over the years -- but interest appears high enough to justify exhibitions of the project in New York and Seattle starting this September.
