Tracking contaminated airline cabins
With the numbers of airline passengers always increasing, the regulation authorities are more concerned than ever by the possible contamination of air cabins by contagious viruses, such as SARS or H5N1. This is why Purdue University researchers have developed a system that can track a pathogen substance to an area the size of a single seat. The system uses sensors to locate passengers releasing hazardous materials. But more importantly, it uses a mathematical technique, called ‘inverse simulation,’ which analyzes ‘how a material disperses throughout the cabin and then runs the dispersion in reverse to find its origin.’ This system could one day alert the pilots in real time — and even be deployed in office buildings.
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