UC, NIH team to develop pollution sensor for kids

[Guest guest]

This sounds like a modern day version of " the boy in a bubble " . I

wonder in the future if this will be the " new school uniforms... "

UC, NIH team to develop pollution sensor for kids

MSN Money

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?

Feed=ACBJ & Date=20070905 & ID=7420809

Children who suffer from environmental allergies may be able to

avoid trouble spots, thanks to some space-age technology.

The University of Cincinnati's colleges of engineering and medicine,

along with Washington University in St. Louis, the NASA Glenn

Research Center in Cleveland, and the National Institutes of Health,

will collaborate to adapt sensor technology developed for

astronauts, according to a news release.

The project plans to develop a miniature unit, using microfluidics

technology, that children can wear throughout the day. The unit will

incorporate geographic information system technology developed by

NASA that will allow a sensor to record specific locations where the

child is exposed to particulate matter. The project is funded by a

four-year, $2 million grant from the National Institute of

Environmental Health Sciences.

Sang Young Son, assistant professor in the UC College of Engineering

and the principal investigator for the project, helped develop the

astronaut sensor technology. The major challenge, he said in the

release, will be adapting the liquid used in the sensor to account

for Earth's gravitational forces, as opposed to space capsules.

Once the sensor has been developed, it will be field-tested by 8-

year-old children in the UC Department of Environmental Health's

Cincinnati Childhood Allergy and Air Pollution Study, according to

the release.