The Terminator vs. COVID-19

[pendell]

Link

Texas-based Xenex Disinfection Services recently announced a successful test of its LightStrike robot against the virus. The robot, sold in Japan by medical equipment maker Terumo, emits light of wavelengths between 200 and 315 nanometers to decontaminate beds, doorknobs and other surfaces.

Two or three five-minute rounds of ultraviolet radiation leave pathogens too damaged to function. This technology has been proven to work against multidrug-resistant bacteria and the Ebola virus, according to Xenex.

So , yes. The Japanese and Americans have got together to fight the virus, and their answer is a robot with lasers. No indication whether it looks like Arnie or not.

Anime writers, to your stations! THis BEGS for an adaptation!

Tongue-in-cheek ,

Brian P.

[Tvtyrant]

Ah, the Pacific Rim approach.

[137beth]

I'm okay with this solution just as long as there's no time travel involved.....

[sihnfahl]

No indication whether it looks like Arnie or not.

Well, we already know about the Whovian approach to the quarantine

[Radar]

Link



So , yes. The Japanese and Americans have got together to fight the virus, and their answer is a robot with lasers. No indication whether it looks like Arnie or not.

Anime writers, to your stations! THis BEGS for an adaptation!

Tongue-in-cheek ,

Brian P.

Does it have a proper theme song and a transformation sequence? If not, this prototype is not ready for deployment yet.

On a more serious note: in the past UV lamps were standard equipment in medical centers in my country but for some reason they vanished. This robot basically serves the same function with the distinction that it can go from room to room. With that price tag, you most likely could install those simple lapms in every room anyway. So what is the actual advantage of the robot or disadvantage of those old lamps?

[sihnfahl]

So what is the actual advantage of the robot or disadvantage of those old lamps?

The robot offers full coverage. A fixed lamp requires manipulation to get all areas of a contaminated surface.

Which comes into the problem that those lamps are UV-C. Highly damaging to DNA. Damages corneas, etc.

Robots make it easier to get every nook and cranny exposed to UVC for the requisite amount of time to deactivate the virus without risking any human exposure.

[Knaight]

UV decontamination is pretty well established - it's displaced chlorine treatments to a pretty significant extent in wastewater treatment, for instance. Hopefully the robot is a helpful extension of that.

[Mastikator]

Before anyone thinks "can I cure myself with this?" the answer is a big fat resounding no: not only will your body provide cover for the virus you will be damaged by it, your skin will burn and you risk blindness. In fact radiation is known to weaken the immune system so worse case scenario you just made yourself more vulnerable to the coronavirus than ever before.

[Radar]

Before anyone thinks "can I cure myself with this?" the answer is a big fat resounding no: not only will your body provide cover for the virus you will be damaged by it, your skin will burn and you risk blindness. In fact radiation is known to weaken the immune system so worse case scenario you just made yourself more vulnerable to the coronavirus than ever before.

That is a common problem with things that effectively destroy all virusees and bacteria: they are kind of indiscriminate.

[Mastikator]

That is a common problem with things that effectively destroy all virusees and bacteria: they are kind of indiscriminate.

I only mention it because people have been drinking bleach thinking the bleach will kill the virus.

[Chen]

I only mention it because people have been drinking bleach thinking the bleach will kill the virus.

I mean its technically true it’ll kill the virus, just that it’ll do so by killing you first.

[pendell]

I only mention it because people have been drinking bleach thinking the bleach will kill the virus.

I rest easy knowing this is medical equipment in the hands of medical professionals, not something just anyone can pick up at the corner drug store for <$10. So I don't think it's likely people will do so. It's just one of many tools for fighting disease, and I think less likely to abuse than many.

Whether it becomes self-aware and starts killing us all, shouting "EXTERMINATE!" is another issue

Tongue-in-cheek,

Brian P.

[sihnfahl]

I rest easy knowing this is medical equipment in the hands of medical professionals, not something just anyone can pick up at the corner drug store for <$10. So I don't think it's likely people will do so. It's just one of many tools for fighting disease, and I think less likely to abuse than many

Considering the number of UVC lamps you can buy online for under US50...

DON'T TEMPT FATE.

[Tvtyrant]

I rest easy knowing this is medical equipment in the hands of medical professionals, not something just anyone can pick up at the corner drug store for <$10. So I don't think it's likely people will do so. It's just one of many tools for fighting disease, and I think less likely to abuse than many.

Whether it becomes self-aware and starts killing us all, shouting "EXTERMINATE!" is another issue

Tongue-in-cheek,

Brian P.

Having these shoot doorknobs after each use would go a long way to helping fight the virus. Or UV your food after coming home, there are lots of home benefits.

[tomandtish]

I rest easy knowing this is medical equipment in the hands of medical professionals, not something just anyone can pick up at the corner drug store for <$10. So I don't think it's likely people will do so. It's just one of many tools for fighting disease, and I think less likely to abuse than many.

Whether it becomes self-aware and starts killing us all, shouting "EXTERMINATE!" is another issue

Tongue-in-cheek,

Brian P.

"It sterilizes! That's what it does! That's all it does! You can't stop it! It will reach down your pants and blast your parts off!"

[Radar]

I only mention it because people have been drinking bleach thinking the bleach will kill the virus.

Bwuh? I... I have no idea how to process that information. Stupidity is truly infinite.

I rest easy knowing this is medical equipment in the hands of medical professionals, not something just anyone can pick up at the corner drug store for <$10. So I don't think it's likely people will do so. It's just one of many tools for fighting disease, and I think less likely to abuse than many.

Whether it becomes self-aware and starts killing us all, shouting "EXTERMINATE!" is another issue

Tongue-in-cheek,

Brian P.

For the current crisis Daleks seem to be also in favor of stoping the virus actually.

[Eldan]

I mean, the Daleks were developed in response to nuclear and biological warfare. I guess those shells they are in are pretty socially isolating.

[sihnfahl]

Bwuh? I... I have no idea how to process that information. Stupidity is truly infinite.

Do not underestimate the power of {Scrubbed} human stupidity.

[Radar]

Do not underestimate the power of {Scrub the post, scrub the quote} human stupidity

It might be insensitive on my part, but it reminds me of a song (a bit graphic if cartoonish).

All in all, this shows how valuable proper education is and how much does it fail right now. Anyone with some understanding of biology and chemistry would not make such a horrible mistake.

[Mastikator]

It might be insensitive on my part, but it reminds me of a song (a bit graphic if cartoonish).

All in all, this shows how valuable proper education is and how much does it fail right now. Anyone with some understanding of biology and chemistry would not make such a horrible mistake.

Those people who did that, as well as the people to destroyed 5G towers because they thought they spread covid-19. They bring back memories from my classmates at school who- during physics class, always asked "what is the point of this, why do we need to learn about [...some phenomena]". Well now would be a great time to learn about biology and radiology. Just some basics of what electromagnetic radiation is, and how viruses infect cells.

Knowing what valence electrons is, what ionizing radiation is, what a virus is, these are not esoteric pieces of knowledge that a common lay person need not know. Turns out it is actually VERY important that people know these things, they DO have practical application.

[Tyrant]

It might be insensitive on my part, but it reminds me of a song (a bit graphic if cartoonish).

All in all, this shows how valuable proper education is and how much does it fail right now. Anyone with some understanding of biology and chemistry would not make such a horrible mistake.

From the information that is coming out, I'm relatively certain that it probably wasn't a mistake. It looks quite likely that she intentionally poisoned her husband. Based on things I can't go into (just read about her background elsewhere), it is highly unlikely that she would take any medical advice from the individual that she tried to blame (even though he never gave any medical advice and especially didn't say "drink fish tank cleaner"). She and her husband were having marital issues and her husband was an engineer and thus at least somewhat unlikely to knowingly ingest fish tank anything. Neither of them had the virus and no one (to the best of my knowledge) has advised taking hydroxychloroquine preemptively. Then there's the fact that she lived while he didn't. It could've been an accident, but a number of things point another direction.

[Knaight]

her husband was an engineer and thus at least somewhat unlikely to knowingly ingest fish tank anything.

How many engineers have you met? It's definitely a field enriched in smart, highly specialized people who assume they know other fields better than they do. It's also a field that has a lot of people who are willing to do some degree of self experimentation with their tinkering. Sourcing chemicals from household sources (which are cheap) as opposed to hitting up Sigma Aldrich or the like is pretty common. For instance, here you can buy 99% pure Napthalene from Sigma Aldrich, at 50 bucks for a kilo. Here you can buy 99.95% pure Napthalene at 20 bucks for 680 grams. It's cheaper, it's purer, it happens to be called mothballs, and I know all of this because of engineer side projects.

So, we have an engineer, who's probably smart but doesn't really have a background in medicine or chemistry - which describes most mechanical, electrical, civil, and computer engineers - who uses a pretty standard acquisition practice, messes around with a side project, and ends up getting killed doing it. That's not exactly an out there scenario, especially when you combine fear and some ambiguous advice-adjacent statements from people who should be trustworthy.

[Eldan]

I mean, on the one hand yes, on the other hand, Sigma Aldrich also usually tells you what those impurities are, which is kind of important for a lot of applications.

[Bohandas]

Does it have a proper theme song and a transformation sequence? If not, this prototype is not ready for deployment yet.

On a more serious note: in the past UV lamps were standard equipment in medical centers in my country but for some reason they vanished.

Don't those give you cancer?

[Radar]

Don't those give you cancer?

Obviously the rooms need to be empty, when you want to use such a UV lamp. With the robot it would be the same I think.

[sihnfahl]

Don't those give you cancer?

Reference my comment. UVC lamps are highly carcinogenic and will burn corneas.

The robot is a little safer as it can do all the manipulations of the lamp necessary without human intervention. Or risk of exposure.

[Tyrant]

How many engineers have you met? It's definitely a field enriched in smart, highly specialized people who assume they know other fields better than they do. It's also a field that has a lot of people who are willing to do some degree of self experimentation with their tinkering. Sourcing chemicals from household sources (which are cheap) as opposed to hitting up Sigma Aldrich or the like is pretty common. For instance, here you can buy 99% pure Napthalene from Sigma Aldrich, at 50 bucks for a kilo. Here you can buy 99.95% pure Napthalene at 20 bucks for 680 grams. It's cheaper, it's purer, it happens to be called mothballs, and I know all of this because of engineer side projects.

So, we have an engineer, who's probably smart but doesn't really have a background in medicine or chemistry - which describes most mechanical, electrical, civil, and computer engineers - who uses a pretty standard acquisition practice, messes around with a side project, and ends up getting killed doing it. That's not exactly an out there scenario, especially when you combine fear and some ambiguous advice-adjacent statements from people who should be trustworthy.

I'm guessing you didn't actually read the article?

[Knaight]

I'm guessing you didn't actually read the article?

Seeing as you didn't link the article, I couldn't say one way or the other - it's made the news multiple times, you could be referring to any number of articles. What I can say is that "an engineer wouldn't do something stupid involving untested self experimentation" is not borne out by history in any way. Neither is the broader "they're smart and wouldn't do something stupid". Remember the biohacking fad?

[Tyrant]

Seeing as you didn't link the article, I couldn't say one way or the other - it's made the news multiple times, you could be referring to any number of articles. What I can say is that "an engineer wouldn't do something stupid involving untested self experimentation" is not borne out by history in any way. Neither is the broader "they're smart and wouldn't do something stupid". Remember the biohacking fad?

The article just a few posts before mine. The one talking about this very topic that started this particular chain of conversation. {Scrub the post, scrub the quote}This one.. I'll give you a few relevant quotes:

'"What bothers me about this is that Gary was a very intelligent man, a retired [mechanical] engineer who designed systems for John Deere in Waterloo, Iowa, and I really can't see the scenario where Gary would say, ‘Yes, please, I would love to drink some of that Koi fish tank cleaner,'" one of his close friends told the Free Beacon. "It just doesn't make any sense."'

'The powder, which can be lethal if ingested, is sold by aquarium suppliers and used to treat viral outbreaks in large fish tanks. She told the Free Beacon that she had mentioned this to her husband "and he kind of laughed at me, you know. It was just a regular conversation."'

'Wanda Lenius routinely prepared a "vitamin cocktail" for him, according to Gary Lenius's friend.'

'Asked if she and Gary Lenius had a conversation about taking the chloroquine at that time, she told the Free Beacon: "No. I mean, it was really kind of a spur of the moment thing," adding that the couple ingested "one teaspoon and some soda" each, at least four times the lethal limit.'

I didn't include the portions that make it painfully obvious that the person who supposedly advised taking this (even though they in fact, did not) is one of the last people she would ever listen to for any advice, much less medical advice (which again, it wasn't).

So, she decided to serve them both fish tank cleaner. Those are her words. They supposedly took the same amount, far in excess of a lethal does, yet she survived. She would have never listened to the individual in question. She had at least one domestic abuse claim against her. Could it be a tragic mistake? Sure. Is that likely given what is known? Not really. And it definitely doesn't sound like your scenario, at all.

[Tyndmyr]

The engineer explanation does seem unlikely. It doesn't match her story at all. And the fish tank chemical isn't even the same chemical as the medicinal one. The names sound sort of similar. I can definitely see an engineer forgetting something like checking the impurities or something, but "name sounds close enough, lets chug it" is kind of wild by engineer standards. We totally make mistakes, but different sorts of mistakes. Overlooking best practices in a field that you thought you knew about? Totally. Not bothering to read the actual name? Ehhhh.

Add that in with her admitting she normally prepared the mix, and the oddness of her claim of dosages with her being fine...yeah. It sounds like she wanted to off him and come up with an alibi.