UV Keyboard Cleaners:
Another UV light-based bacteria buster is this LED desktop disinfection light, which sits between a computer screen and keyboard and automatically blasts the keys with ultraviolet light every hour to rid it of mould, bacteria, fungus and viruses. Each Cleanse takes 5 minutes and motion sensors ensure the light only comes on when users aren’t using the keyboard to prevent potentially harmful UV exposure. Produced by accessory manufacturer Targus, the company plans to start selling the devices for $299 (£220) from April. It is also working on an antimicrobial mouse and keyboards.
Bacteria That Benefit Mental Health:
And now onto germs of a good kind. Psych biotics are a type of live bacteria (probiotics and prebiotics) that could have mental health benefits when ingested because of the way they act with bacteria in the gut. Knowledge of the exact impact the bacteria can have is limited, but recent studies on volunteers showed evidence that those who had consumed them were less likely to say they were in a bad mood or feeling distressed than people who were given a placebo, suggesting that psych biotics could be used to help those with depression or anxiety in the future. Lots more research needs to be done in the field, but scientists are excited by the prospect of bacteria-brain relationships.
Touchless Gesture Recognition:
No longer the stuff of science fiction, minority report-style touchless gesture recognition is being fine-tuned by a host of major organizations, from tech titans such as apple and microsoft to research universities, with COVID-19 accelerating its widespread adoption. By way of example, Abu Dhabi airport installed the technology in fifty-three lifts in June 2020 to help minimize the spread of the virus, and the trend soon caught on. In July, Norwegian airport operator Avinor partnered with tech company Amadeus to launch touchless travel across four airports, covering everything from check-in and baggage drop to security and boarding.
Bio-Engineered, Plastic-Eating Bugs:
The plastic waste crisis is one of the biggest challenges humanity is grappling with. Though science is in its early stages, researchers around the world are coming up with all sorts of novel solutions. Among the most promising are bio-engineered bugs that munch their way through waste polymers, swiftly breaking them down into monomers that can be recycled easily.
Plastic-To-Fuel Technologies:
In a similar vein, scientists have developed technologies that transform waste plastic into clean, low-Sulphur fuels, and the market for these plastic-derived fuels is set to grow significantly in the coming years. Major players in this emerging field include plastic2oil, Enexor Bioenergy, Agilyx corporation and powerhouse energy.
Turning Oranges Into Electricity:
So how will the unwanted oranges be used to create electricity? The methane that the fruit emits as it rots will be used to power a generator. Initially, this clean electricity will be used to run one of the city’s water purification plants as Emasesa, the municipal water company, is leading the scheme. This will use about 35 Tonnes (35,000kg) of the 15,000 Tonnes (15 million kg) of oranges created across southern Spain every year, but if the trial goes well Emasesa wants to use all of the unwanted fruit to create electricity in future.
Waste Food-To-Fuel Technologies:
Just as with seville's wasted oranges, every year around a third of all food produced – a staggering 1.3 billion tonnes – is lost or wasted, with much of it ending up on landfill. Fortunately, scientists are working diligently on technologies that can convert that waste to fuel. Notable examples include Cornell University's two-step bio-oil process and the home biogas system, which uses bacteria to convert food scraps into biogas.
Vertical and Floating Farms:
The world's population is set to grow by 2 billion people by 2050, according to the UN, and that means that we will need as much as 70th more food. Therefore, new farming methods that take up less space will be necessary. Urban vertical farming, where large warehouses within cities and towns are used to grow crops in stacked layers, is already happening. But different solutions that won't take up any land at all include a floating farm proposed by Barcelona's forward-thinking architecture, which would grow crops that would not require fertilizers, pesticides or rainwater, as well as farming fish sustainably.