Antismog and antiviral nanocoat

Bad Astronomy
By Phil Plait
Jun 7, 2007 4:24 AMMay 19, 2019 8:30 AM

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If this weren’t a Cornell University press release, I’d think it was a joke: using nanoparticles electrostatically placed on fabric fibers, a woman has created a (high fashion!) coat that can disable bacteria, viruses, and even oxidize smog, rendering it harmless.

<Homer>MMMMMmmmmmm, shiny nanoparticle encrusted fibers manipulated to diffract light to make the material reflective and control the color.</Homer>

I mean, wow. Cool! But there’s one problem: it’s on the pricey side, at $10,000 per square yard. But that’s only $1100 per square foot, or, lessee… eight and a half bucks a square inch. That’s about a dollar per square centimeter! A bargain!

Now if we could make one that would render creationists and global warming deniers harmless…

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