An Electronic Mask-The Solution to all our woes
The Dreaded Year 2020,
The novel coronavirus, minuscule to be seen, spread rapidly to all corners of the world. Anyone of us could catch it, spread it and fall sick. The virus wreaked havoc in the lives of innocent people. Within a couple of months, the world became a dark place. Rachel had always looked forward to fall, but not this dreaded year. To begin, the first time she heard about the coronavirus was towards the end of January 2020. She did not care about it much, thought that it was another H1N1 or Ebola which was contained a long time ago. It was not until March 2020 when the fear of coronavirus crippled her.
Towards the end of March, her institution announced the transition from offline classes to online learning. In the next couple of months, everything around her changed. Being an adventure sports fanatic, Rachel could not come to terms with the fact that she would not be able to travel, do sky diving or river rafting. For somebody who loved travelling, the lockdown period was tough.
She did not realize the severity of the virus until her friend, Sarah in the neighbourhood caught the virus. She had high fever for 15 days, severe body ache and slight coughing. As soon as Sarah became better, her grandmother fell sick with similar flu like symptoms. Fortunately, both recovered by the end the end of the month. But it was a pretty rough period for Sarah and her family.
Even though studies suggested that the majority of people dying from Coronavirus were people above 80 years old, but the thought of losing her family members scared Rachel. Everybody wanted the dreaded 2020 to end but they were little aware that 2021 had intense trouble and suffering in store. Rachel took time in adapting to her new routine; waking up in the morning, attending online classes, staying at home most of the times or wearing gloves and a mask every time she went out. She even started journaling to keep negative feelings at bay. Coronavirus Repression went on for two long years until vaccines took over the bitter virus.
The Hopeful Year 2050
30 years have passed. Coronavirus has become a long-lost memory. Billions affected. Millions died. Gradually, the impact was significantly reduced and the virus contained. It became a seasonal disease. Nevertheless, the doom was not over. A zombie virus struck and yet another cycle of repression and fear repeated. But there was indeed a full-fledged solution to all our problems. Scientists from all over the world worked together and found a very reliable solution to all our problems.
An Electronic-Mask with high-tech air purification system was the solution to all our woes. A cool accessory which comes in various colours. Combining both style and utility, this E-Mask had a built-in air purifier and a HEPA filter (High-Efficiency Particulate Air Filter) that could capture microbes and dust particles. HEPA Filters offer greater protection from the standard N-95 surgical masks that were worn 30 years ago. Many had raised concerns that masks can cause excessive sweating and skin problems and irritation behind the ears, if worn for a long time.
So, the Electronic-masks saw the addition of a Sweat-wick fabric which is made of high-tech polyester that absorbs moisture. Rachel, the troublemaker, had now become a very successful scientist. She along with other scientists proposed the idea of An Electronic Mask. Through funding and grants, they could manufacture the first set of E-masks, test them on laboratory rats to gauge their efficiency, and actually sell it to real customers, mostly government organizations which could provide these E-masks to the general public at a subsidized rate.
31st March 2050
Rachel was going to a seminar being organized at King’s College London. She woke up to the bird’s tunes, got dressed in a span of 30 minutes and wore the formal attire she decided for herself a day before. Shana, her house help prepared vegetables sand witches for both Rachel and her husband, Kevin. Kevin was a businessman. He had his own SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Company. He too had a hectic work schedule like Rachel.
After 2025, remote working became the new normal. The COVID-19 Pandemic changed the way people worked and the changes stayed longer than expected. Kevin, that day had an online business meeting scheduled at 12 pm. Undoubtedly, offline presence did provide a better environment to collaborate with people but work could be done efficiently from home too. With the breakfast over, Rachel was now all set to go to the seminar. She wore her E-Mask on and said goodbye to Kevin. Rachel was the chief guest at the seminar being organized at King’s College London.
She had to talk about her past, the Coronavirus Era and the Post-Coronavirus period and how she and her team came up with the idea of an Electronic-Mask which nobody could forget prior to leaving their houses. She reached the institution at sharp 1 pm. She was welcomed by a bouquet of roses. She was overjoyed with the fact that everybody in the seminar was wearing an electronic mask as a protective measure.
She started her speech by saying that, “The world became a grim place past the year 2020, but I knew without a doubt, that the world will survive this dreaded pandemic and it will in the future become a beautiful place.” She went on to discuss about masks and vaccines being the only shield of people post the year 2020. Not just Coronavirus, the deadly zombie virus shook the entire world. Although vaccines were effective but people still had to be immunized after every six months.
In 2025, they launched their electronic masks with the hope to save humanity from not just coronavirus but all other infectious diseases prevalent in the world. Post lunch, she explained the mechanism of air purification through a HEPA Filter. For larger particles, she mentioned the phenomenon of straining that is when larger particles get stuck between two fibres. For medium sized particles, particles can easily fit between the gaps in the filter which is termed as interception.
Small sized particles undergo Brownian motion so they move in a random pattern, hit the filter medium and get stuck, which is called diffusion. So, the HEPA Filter captures almost all the particles like viruses, bacteria and dust particles. Thereafter, she answered a couple of questions posed by the students and thanked the students for being a patient audience. She was then escorted to the exit by the student representative and the Dean of King’s College London. She said goodbye to both of them and wished them a healthy and happy future.
By: Stuti Mathur
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