Some Good News - Can You Believe It?
Post Dem-Repub "conventions" and looking for some relief. It's especially needed after watching videos of the mayhem outside the White House on the last night of the convention when Trump accepted the nomination of the Repubs. The instruments of mayhem were purported human beings swarming like a mob, with outbreaks of what can only be termed "demonic" screaming at times.
So where's the good news? For that we turn from politics to science.
No, it's not about the potential vaccines for COVID. Sure, we hear they're being developed. Indeed, in his acceptance speech, Trump claims one will be available before year-end. Not only available, but manufactured in sufficient quantity as to be more or less available for...well, it really wasn't all that specific.
If you're one who hangs his or her hat on a vaccine riding to the rescue of our C-Virus world - which remains pretty much a mess - then maybe that's good news to your way of thinking. Others may not agree. Still others may not be all that enthusiastic about being jabbed by a vaccine which, no matter how "safe" it may be, cannot under any circumstances claim 100% efficacy.
Which potentially leaves COVID as a threat to some segments of humankind.
As should be no surprise to those of us who are wary of politicians, good news rarely comes from them. And those of us who are wary of "big pharma" solutions to ills of our lives aren't surprised to find ourselves uninspired by rumors of vaccines.
But science - real science - can be a good source of good news. And this TED talk should impress you as legitimately good news. And it's only 10 minutes long, this good news.
The talk claims that ultra-violet light - which is known to effectively kill any and all bacteria and viruses - even so-called Super-bugs - can be used safely on humans, and/or with humans present.
Question: Can you believe it. Watch the talk and tell me why not.
As you may know, it's used now to disinfect surgical theaters, New York subway cars, and other places. But current application must be done without humans present. This new method will allow humans to be present, even allow this particular type of ultra-violet light to be applied directly to humans.
So, whenever it's made available, it could, for example, simply kill COVID - period. It's not a treatment or a cure. It simply would kill it.
Additional reading revealed that, in addition to the physicist who discovered the particular part of the ultra-violet spectrum that won't hurt humans, other companies have developed practical applications. But like many technologies, it's quite expensive.
What to look forward to: Over time, we should be hearing more about this new and safe application of ultra-violet technology. And, over time, the cost will go down, as is the case with most technology.
Good news? Yeah.
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