Germ Free Handles

Bathrooms are places for germs to grow and thrive. For those of us that a bit OCD about those germs, it can be an utter nightmare because the handles can be really gross. A study several years ago found that there are 19 different bacteria in public restrooms in just about every surface, including the handles. Let me give you a moment for that to really sink in. At a recent international science and engineering fair, two teens invented a door handle that eliminates bacteria completely. The secret is that it is coated with titanium dioxide and lights up. The energy for it to light up comes from the mechanical energy of the door opening and closing. The best part here is that it costs less than $15 dollars. The invention won second place in the material category. There has been a lot of progress as far as software development for communication and mobile devices but not nearly as much when it comes to the materials. Since studies have also pointed to the cell phone being dirtier than a bathroom, why not coat it with TiO2 as well?