Posted on 06/22/2015 9:04:47 AM PDT by Red Badger
Two high school students, Sum Ming Wong and Kin Pong Li, both living in Hong Kong have designed and built a door handle that kills germs, thus preventing the spread of disease through hand contact. They demonstrated their handle at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair held last month in Pittsburgh—taking second place in the materials science category.
One of the ways that ailments such as cold and flu are passed is via contact, and one of the main avenues is via door handles—a sick person coughs into their hand then uses the handle to enter a bathroom, office, or other location, depositing germs. Others that enter the same room pick up the germs from the door handle and invite the germs into their own bodies by touching their eyes or noses. Door handles that kill such germs on contact would stop them from spreading—that is what Wong and Li set out to build.
The pair started by noting that a mineral called titanium dioxide is quite toxic to germs, but it hasn't been used as an antibacterial agent much because it requires the presence of UV light. To get around this problem, the team ground some of the mineral and then used it to coat a glass tube, they then affixed a LED onto one end of the tube—it shines UV light onto the insides of the glass tube—any germs that land on the outer side are then killed by the mineral (testing showed it to be 99.8 percent effective). Putting the glass tube onto brackets allowed for it to be used as a door handle.
But that wasn't the end of the story, realizing that hooking the handle up to an electrical outlet would be messy, and relying on batteries would be iffy, they put together a gear box that allows for capturing energy from the door opening and closing. That energy is then sent to a battery that feeds power to the door handle, keeping it lit all the time, not only killing germs, but making it easy to see. Amazingly, the co-creators report, building the door handle only costs about $13—minus labor. At this time it is not clear if the two students will be attempting to market the door handle, but it would seem a good idea. Also, it appears the same design could work in other areas, such as with shopping carts, handrails on escalators, etc.
More information: student.societyforscience.org/article/door-handle-kills-germs
The copper in brass is a anti-bacterial agent......................
Very, very clever.
Yes, vely crever.................
Hospitals, schools, day care and public restrooms. These alone would significantly reduce the transmission of colds and flu. I suspect that making this mandatory for those locations alone would do more to minimize the spread of infectious diseases than mandatory vaccines.
Simply using Titanium Dioxide paints and UV lights might solve a whole bunch of problems...................or create a bunch more...................
Get dirty....let your kids get dirty. This sanitary hand lotion thing is crap.
This is about preventing the spread of flesh eating bacteria in hospitals.
all new hospitals in USA are now built with single room occupancy so infections can be contained.
the old ward system of multiple beds is out.
While I essentially agree with you....peoples’ hands, and what those hands do, and where those hands go....are things to ponder.
One thing you learn on a cruise ship, and I worked on one for 10 months....and it is not an especially pleasant thought.... is that when you use the handrails...gross though the thought may be....you become intimate with the hygenic habits of perhaps 4000 other people.
I’ll leave it at that. When those norovirus outbreaks happen aboard cruise ships....it’s not because there is rotting food in the kitchens or serving areas. It’s because people with substantially inadequate hygiene habits run their hands over the handrails. And when those outbreaks happen, the crew washes all the handrails with bleach, first thing. Should you go on a cruise ship, the secret to not becoming sick is to wash your hands relentlessly. 10 times a day? Yep. Better than being confined to your cabin or lying in bed with the symptoms of food poisoning for a day or three.
Nice job!
Won’t work as advertised.
The article says: “One of the ways that ailments such as cold and flu are passed is via contact, and one of the main avenues is via door handles...” Article also states: “titanium dioxide is quite toxic to germs, but it hasn’t been used as an antibacterial agent...”
The ‘germs’ that cause colds, the flu, and noro are viruses. Viruses are not bacterial agents.
Still a very imaginative idea.
If your body can’t handle a little botulism what good are we? Right?
/sarcasm.
Will consume electricity, requiring wiring into doors. Won’t happen.
Instead, replace doorknobs with handles. Globular knobs require you to grip them, pushing others peoples’ germs deep into your skin. Handles don’t. You can use an elbow to open with a handle.
Eat dirt, get strong.
Those of us with allergies may have been the victims of too much cleanliness.
Amish have a lower incidence of allergy so I’m told. It pays to work with the soil.
where’s the lead?...
“Seriesly?”
He has a gay cousin who makes a dish called Cream of Sum Yung Guy.
The doors of public restrooms would be a great application. I always cringe after washing my hands in a public restroom that I have to touch a door handle because I know more than a few people have opened this door without washing theirs. If paper towels are available I always use one to cover the door handle, but many public facilities use those electric hand dryers. I have seen restrooms in hospitals use a foot mechanism to open the door or even a handle that uses your elbow.
If this only came in second, what the hell was the first place winner?
There are limits to everything..... cleanliness and filthiness
I worked in a pharmaceutical facility for 30 years working with biologics and some nasty stuff to boot. I took all precautions for myself and for the product which had to be safe to inject.
On the other hand I go hunting, touch all kinds of dirt and filth...wipe my hands on my pants, eat my sandwich.....maybe, just maybe rinse my hands off in a little creek first...maybe not. .
A nice happy medium.
Sum Ming (“Simon”) Wong, 17 (left), and Kin Pong (“Michael”) Li, 18, of Hong Kong show off the self-sanitizing door handle they developed. It’s powered by opening and closing the door.
I think it was these guys:
Teens win big for pollution control and HIV detection
https://student.societyforscience.org/article/teens-win-big-pollution-control-and-hiv-detection
Just don't ask me what that means, but I'd like to see it demonstrated.
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