Prototype Plasma Hand Sanitizer

Has anyone else noticed the number of anti-bacterial hand lotion stations popping up in public places?  Brands like Purell must be netting a small fortune for their corporate parents thanks to the world’s increasing phobia to everything from the swine flu to common cold causing bacteria.  While some may argue that a culture obsessed with anti-bacterials could actual encourage the evolution of “super germs” to which our bodies have no immunity, I think overall we’re better off passing fewer germs between each other.

Plasma Sanitizing a Hand

Soon, thanks to work being done at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching Germany, messy hand lotions and anti-bacterial soaps may no longer be required to achieve “germ free” hands.  Devices that utilize plasma to kill germs are being developed that will likely cost less than $100, making them ideal for permanent public installations.  Users will be able to “put their hands into a small box that bathes them with plasma — the same sort of luminous gas found in neon signs, fluorescent tubes and TV displays.  This plasma, though, is at room temperature and pressure, and is engineered to zap germs”.

The technology could also be adapted to sterilize the air flowing through air conditioning systems and to cure skin surface bacterial infections, such as Athlete’s Foot.  Couple this with a sterile keyboard and you may never get sick again.  Or so we can dream…

[Via:  CrunchGear via NYTimes]