New Face Mask Lights Up from Coronavirus

By Doug Lazy on May 19, 2020
(Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

What if you could tell that somebody was infected with the coronavirus without a test? Researchers from MIT and Harvard are reportedly working on a face mask that will light up when somebody with the virus puts it on.

DailyMail.co.uk says that the new masks could be used to detect people who are infected at “airports, train stations, offices and hospitals” and more and the masks might be more reliable than the current temperature checks that are being done. The technology is being adapted from masks that were first developed to detect Zika virus back in 2016.

So how does it work? There’s an inactive sample of the coronavirus in filter on the mask. When somebody puts it on who has coronavirus, the mask detects the virus through the moisture in their breath and starts to glow under a handheld scanner. 

The makers are hoping to have the masks for sale to the public by the end of the summer. You can read more about the masks and their technology, HERE

 

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