A Swedish textile design student has created this beautiful series of surgical masks for flu season. The patterns are printed with thermochromic ink, so the masks change color when the temperature of your breath changes. Some of them, like the one below, look more like neck warmers.
Designer's profile via Ecouterre via NotCot
An angry loser (right) came to Syracuse University to make a fool of herself by spreading pathetic hatred and was treated to a happy mutant style stunt by this smiling student, named Chris Pesto (left). I decided that because this woman thought it was okay to make me feel uncomfortable in my hom... More.
Do you think Marilyn Monroe is smoking a joint or a hand-rolled cigarette in this video?... More.
This "typewriter drawing" and accompanying letter of love/apology are dated from 1934 and come from the excellent blog Square America (which published them some months ago, but I'm just seeing them now, thanks Jesse Thorn). The Boat Lullabies... More.
Jay sez, "My company built an office building out of shipping containers in Providence, RI. It's called the Box Office, it's energy efficient, it upcycles 32 shipping containers, and will create incubator office/studio space in a neighborhood that needs it." BOX OFFICE october09.mov (Thanks, Ja... More.
A happy 1958 Disney cartoon about the future of highway transportation. (Via Robert Popper)... More.
RSS Feed
"The patterns are printed with thermochromic ink, so the masks change color when the temperature of your breath changes."
Ok, that is awesome.
Waow, myan... mood masks.
so, to protect you from a non- airborne virus you need masks?
The ink changes color as a warning system for when the wearer has a fever.
Influenza is spread both by contaminated surfaces AND aerosols from coughs and sneezes (tiny droplets of saliva and mucous full of virus). So, it is airborne. It just doesn't, you know, float around, emanating from the bodies of the fallen, infecting everyone in its path..
Also, masks are often worn by infected people to try and avoid coughing or sneezing on people or things. It's also a convenient little reminder not to stick your hands in your mouth after touching a public railing.
It's a shame that such a mask is usually supposed to be disposed of after a single use.
Quite pretty, but it'll only be thrown away.
Maybe a cloth mask with a removable sterile paper lining? I imagine it should be possible to boil and otherwise properly disinfect cloth masks.
I do so love these inks. I made a moving Rorschach mask for Halloween which was a big hit. The only problem was that once the party crowded up, it was so hot inside, the mask went pure white. Still got a wonderful reception as I stalked the night in full garb though. A group of marines gave me a HOOAH!
It's an awesome bit of science. I plan to make another mask with a different Rorschach pattern on it and then see what else comes to mind.
Rock on with awesome chemistry.
"Influenza is spread both by contaminated surfaces AND aerosols from coughs and sneezes (tiny droplets of saliva and mucous full of virus). So, it is airborne."
Not to be pedantic, but that makes it droplet-borne, not airborne. There are very few truly airborne pathogens (SARS and TB are my personal favorites). However, stratosfyr is right---droplets take several feet to fall out of the air, making inhalation a definite possibility. Of course, the CDC recommends masks primarily for the infected, not the well, but anywho...
Oh... hm. From the maker's description:
These might be meant as masks to trap pollen and allergens for people with seasonal allergies, rather than as masks for infectious diseases.
I've known a few people with allergies so bad that they would probably wear a mask very often if it was fashionable, so that's a pretty definite possibility.
It'd also be more likely, IMO. You need a far higher filtration efficiency to remove the flu virus from the air than you do to remove pollen and allergens (for example most of the "bird flu"/"swine flu" masks sold explicitly as such on Amazon right now are not sufficiently effective to definitively ward off those diseases), so a cloth mask is more likely to be about allergens.
If they're allergen masks that also means you don't have to autoclave (ruins some synthetic cloths) or throw them away every day, which is good because they really are very nice looking.
That doesn't look like a neck warmer. It looks like someone tore down my accordion blinds and decided to make them into a fashion statement.
These type of masks are everywhere in Taiwan (and I'm betting most of Asia.
It's normal behaviour in these dense population areas to where a mask when sick.
This is hardly a new idea.
And you can get everything from Mickey Mouse to artie whatever.
Yeah, nice looking, but kind of, I dunno, played out. I remember a very similar kind of mask coming out with avian flu and again with SARS; didn't change colour, of course, but still pretty much the same thing (I seem to remember lots of Hello Kitty masks coming out during the SARS outbreak in Hong Kong, as well). I get it, it's ironic or something. I think I'm gonna get a silk-screened designer gas-mask instead.
Great report I saw on BBC News last week showed mothers discussing whether they'd give their 5-year-olds the swine flu vaccination.
Most wouldn't. One said: "I'm going to wait until my little boy starts showing symptoms before getting it done."
:|
"Sir, I'm afraid we don't allow individuals with fevers in this establishment. Would you kindly take your business elsewhere"
"Ma'am? Would you be so kind as to wear your thermochromic mask? The other patrons find it disconcerting not to know your body temperature."
The pros of vaccination far outweigh the cons. Like choosing between 1% chance of dying vs 20%. (The numbers are examplary of course.)
Buy hey, if you don't wanna take one no problem, more for us left. :D
Should I wear a flu mask to protect myself from swine flu?
"Probably not. Despite all the news photos you may have seen of people wearing flu masks, a regular surgical mask doesn't block the small airborne particles that can carry flu viruses into your lungs."
Just in case you were wondering after reading the link on #16, you can make an approximately n95 quality swine flu mask in whatever colours or designs suit your fancy, using only recycled t-shirt fabric and a sewing kit: http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_4937558_make-mask-swine-flu-pandemic.html?cr=1
I made a tie dye one. Of course for ultimate infectious style points you should mod an old soviet gas mask instead.
Ale
OKay, if you don't want a vaccination then fine but that lady doesn't quite understand how it works.