Dr. Lucky Tran 
“A team of researchers at Washington University has developed an air monitor that can alert users to the presence of SARS-CoV-2 — the virus responsible for #COVID-19 — in just five minutes.”
Much work to do, but this would be a gamechanger!
David@luckytran I want to get excited, but we already have air purifiers and well... They're for Davos and the different government buildings and CEOs of the world, not for the plebes. Why would this be different?
Don't get me wrong, it's a great invention, but the problem right now is not the means to detect and prevent #Covid, it's the will.
mybarkingdogs@David @luckytran the better version would be if people could wear them like dosimeters.
THAT could actually motivate action (impromptu walkout strikes at infective workplaces, people refusing to patronize businesses or locations with regular high readings/obviously bad air, provide legal liability that might scare the insurance industry into leaning on its customers, etc etc)
@David @luckytran Basically, if this technology could be made
a) easily usable by individuals with a minimum of effort
b) capable of keeping a permanent time/date record
and
c) able to be immediately publicized with no consequences for publicization
it would have a chance at pushing even capitalist/liberal interests (as hard as that is to do, I get it) toward reality and doing more toward better air exchange and masking policies etc.
My point is that we don't need new technology to end the pandemic. We already have it. It's not a technology issue, never was.
So, that's a new shiny toy. Great. It probably has its use here or there, but it's not a game-changer in any way.
Christian Kent@David @mybarkingdogs @luckytran I do know what you mean, but that's really unfair to those of us who are wearing damn masks everywhere and can't even spend time inside for over 90% of what we used to.
Those of us still wearing masks aren't doing it for fun, and it isn't all that nice — we know, we heard all the complaining about it too.
I still wear masks wherever I go. Such machines won't allow us to stop wearing masks. Do you know what would? Air cleaning machines. They already exist, they're already available, and if the powers that be wanted to, they'd already be in every classroom, office and more.
@David @mybarkingdogs @luckytran I'm imagining the air monitor can be potentially hand-held? This changes the game (for me anyway) more than the air filter I have needing a small car to transport. (My e-bike is pretty good, but not quite).
I would also appreciate the way this monitor alert would heighten public awareness in a very personal way, making it quite effective at giving people the rude shock they need to get a RAT. If I'm there I'll be able to tell them which to use and how to swab
@David @mybarkingdogs @luckytran I did well by having antivirals ready 1 day before I started testing positive (thanks to a less lucky cohabitant that was RAT testing but suffered greatly) … in fact with this tool I may have successfully self-isolated within the home
@David @mybarkingdogs @luckytran But frankly we agree far more than we disagree — I mean, the most essential technology is windows that open? I feel like Germany is crazily ready for this, but I still don't know why all the culture has always been to open windows and cross-breeze all the time.
@pineywoozle ‘s #3WordNote@David @ckent @mybarkingdogs @luckytran It would allow us to visit friends and family & not wear a mask if the air was safe in their home. Lots of us who are immune compromised have fam who won’t use an air filter or wear a mask & who’s homes are periodically dangerous but not always. It might also convince some of them to mask up.
Eniko (moved ➡ gamedev.place)@David @mybarkingdogs @luckytran Seeing as how 90%+ of people think covid isn't a big deal now, personally my best hope is "shiny toys" like this that could let me safely claw back some of the life I used to have