THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 13, 1995 TAG: 9511110137
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: TECH TRACK
GADGETS & GIZMOS FOR THE NEXT CENTURY
SOURCE: BY JAMES SCHULTZ, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
HELLO FROM TECH Track, the place where we plan to snare the stars from an expanding galaxy of high-tech gadgets and gizmos.
Most of the inventions we'll write about may end up somewhere on your body, in your house or where you work. Some will probably seem a little strange, bizarre even, suitable only for eccentric inventors and their close personal friends.
And we won't forget the one-of-a-kind thingamajigs everybody will have to own by Christmas 2001.
Which brings us to an intriguing device that could end up in your home before too long. According to the bright folks at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, the ``Low Temperature Oxidation Catalyst'' is the perfect gift for the oxygen-starved.
Turns out that this English muffin-size filter, which started out as a way to remove gas buildup in some of Langley's space lasers, can remove deadly carbon monoxide and other pollutants from the air we breathe. It just sort of sits there at room temperature. Air, as it passes over the filter, reacts chemically with specialized metallic compounds, neutralizing potentially deadly gas molecules.
There are no moving parts, no electrical connections, no complicated commands to master. It's compact, easy to handle and can be incorporated without much fuss into commercially available air-filtration systems.
How's it made? Well . . . Langley is shy about providing too much detail, citing the confidential licensing arrangements it has with companies that want to turn out truckfuls of the device. Suffice it to say that platinum, gold and other, less pricey metallic compounds are involved.
At least two firms - Rochester Gas & Electric Corp. in New York state and gas-mask maker Mantic Corp. in Salt Lake City - are currently working on commercial versions of the filter that should be made widely available sometime next year. Price is yet to be set, but consumer versions are likely to be affordable.
Which goes to show that maybe all that tax money we've spent on space stuff really does have practical payoffs. MEMO: ``Tech Track'' will appear every Monday in the Daily Break. Readers
with ideas for future columns are invited to contact staff science and
technology writer James Schultz at (804) 446-2599, or via e-mail at
schultz@infi.net
ILLUSTRATION: The "Low Temperature Oxidation Catalyst" removes several
different kinds of pollutants.
by CNB