Science Fiction Becomes Reality, Again.

[38yrsfan]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/sc...g-1885158.html

It sounds too good to be true: a non-toxic spray invisible to the human eye that protects almost any surface against dirt and bacteria, whether it is hospital equipment and bandages or ancient stone monuments and expensive fabrics.

But true it is. The spray is a form of "liquid glass" and is harmless to living things and the wider environment. It is being touted as one of the most important, environmentally-friendly products to emerge from the field of nanotechnology, which deals in objects at the molecular end of the size scale.
Tests have revealed an astonishing variety of potential uses for the liquid glass, from protecting vineyards against fungal attacks to coating medical implants with non-stick, antibacterial surfaces. Scientists have even used it to spray fabric with an invisible, dirt-resistant film – emulating the fictional invention of unstainable clothing in the 1951 Ealing comedy Tony Orlando and Dawn in the White Suit.

[MagicHef]

Originally Posted by EyePod

yeah, its cause the population is increasing while the distance between everyone is decreasing. way back when a tribe could get a disease and die out without infecting every other human on earth. not the case anymore....
Posted via Mobile Device

Autoimmune diseases are not caused by infections.

[mikey23545]

Originally Posted by Dante84

Okay, so the stuff it coats will be protected from bacteria and such.... but then what about the outside of the coating? Will bacteria and dirt just rest on it instead?

The idea, for those obviously too lazy to read the article, is that because of the coating of this glass-like substance any object could just be washed with plain water and the surface will be perfectly sterile...No more antibiotics in the soap. As far as the "breathability" problem, the "pores" in the coating would be large enough to allow gas molecules to pass through, but too small for bacteria and such...

Since the stuff is made up of silicon dioxide (also known as sand), it is completely non-toxic...

[Dante84]

Originally Posted by mikey23545

The idea, for those obviously too lazy to read the article, is that because of the coating of this glass-like substance any object could just be washed with plain water and the surface will be perfectly sterile...No more antibiotics in the soap. As far as the "breathability" problem, the "pores" in the coating would be large enough to allow gas molecules to pass through, but too small for bacteria and such...

Since the stuff is made up of silicon dioxide (also known as sand), it is completely non-toxic...

Thatsameee-ah!

[EyePod]

Originally Posted by JD10367

Okay, you just made a Grand Canyon sized leap between "rising age of death" and "antibacterial stuff". There are many reasons for the increased longevity. We can now cut out tumors and cancers that they couldn't. We don't lead as menial lives as they do, so we don't suffer as many injuries. We can transplant organs. We eat better. Sterilization is definitely helpful. But there's a difference between sterilization (i.e. keeping bad things out of our food, and making sure surgical instruments are clean) and antibacterial stuff (which IMO is lowering our resistance while INCREASING the resistance of the "enemy"). We use that hand-sanitizing crap, and we kill both good and bad bacteria, and the ones that live get even stronger. We dose ourselves with drugs whenever we get the sniffles, and we create hardier drug-resistant viruses.

We're gonna end up like the f**king Martians in "War Of The Worlds". High technology, and some little microbe is gonna kill us 'cause we've sterilized our species too much.

Notice how I didn't say that "antibacterial stuff" is the only reason, but yeah, thanks for filling in the details. I'm not really a fluff kind of guy.

[EyePod]

Originally Posted by MagicHef

Autoimmune diseases are not caused by infections.

Yeah, my bad. Either way, increased lifespans lead to increased offspring which lead to more accounts of any type of disorder. I guess I shouldn't have strayed and just stated that raw number increases aren't relevant when the entire population is also on the rise.

[MagicHef]

Originally Posted by EyePod

Yeah, my bad. Either way, increased lifespans lead to increased offspring which lead to more accounts of any type of disorder. I guess I shouldn't have strayed and just stated that raw number increases aren't relevant when the entire population is also on the rise.

Yeah, the raw number increases aren't relevant, but the fact that the rate of occurrence of these diseases is increasing is troubling.

http://www.endocrine-abstracts.org/e...ea0016s3.1.htm