ColdFusion - COVID-19 - How Tech is Helping

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Starting point is 00:00:28 Hi, welcome to another Cold Fusion video. In last week's episode, we saw the mechanisms for how COVID-19 works, what makes it dangerous, the potential treatments on the horizon, before ending on how the world is coming together at this time. If you haven't seen that episode, you should definitely watch it first. It's important information. In today's episode, we'll see how people are coming together in using technology to fight this pandemic,

Starting point is 00:00:54 from artificial intelligence to sterilizing robots to rapid development of new technologies being reappropriated in ways never seen before. Usually emerging technologies are held back by infrastructure, financing and bureaucratic constraints. With the challenge of COVID-19, we can put these new technologies to the test. You are watching Tull Fusion TV. Obviously robots aren't susceptible to the virus, so they're being deployed to carry out many tasks, such as cleaning and sterilizing and also delivering food and medicine. This is all in an effort to reduce human-to-human contact.

Starting point is 00:01:40 Purdue technology who produce catering robots have sent fleets of their robots to hospitals and hotels around China. The robots help serve food to those infected or in quarantine, limiting human interaction. UVD robots from the company Blue Ocean Robotics uses ultraviolet light to autonomously kill viruses, curbing the potential spread to other humans. The startup have already sold robots to over 40 countries. Klaus Rizagar, CEO of the company, explains, Our robot uses advanced algorithms and spatial sensors to cover all surfaces with the right amount of virus-killing light.

Starting point is 00:02:19 With our data, users can see exactly which rooms have been cleared for which bacteria and viruses. According to the company, it takes between 10 to 15 minutes to disinfect a room. Can it effectively kill the coroner? coronavirus on surfaces? Yes, definitely virus like corona has been, you know, deactivated by more than 99.999%. Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway is now employing vaporized hydrogen peroxide robots to disinfect their trains.

Starting point is 00:02:56 The Transit Railway services millions of passengers each day and it's become a breeding ground for the virus. These newly purchased deep cleaning robots will be able to reach places difficult to get to by hand. They're also going to be deployed to the locations where COVID-19 patients have been. They then will disinfect the area, making it safe for human entry. Before this virus attack, we have already demonstrated and proof this robot with H2 hydrogen peroxide in the mist form. At the concentration of 150 ppm, explodes it with 15 minutes of time. It was able to kill the virus.

Starting point is 00:03:36 and all different kinds of jam. Hong Kong is also in the process of testing nano-air filtration. This is to improve the air quality in trains and curb the virus spreading through the air. Speaking of air quality, we should talk about the most low-tech solution of all. Researchers at Cambridge University tested a wide range of household materials

Starting point is 00:04:03 for use in homemade masks. To measure effectiveness, they shot bacteria and virus spores into different materials and measured the results. As it turned out, vacuum cleaner bags are 95% effective and a dish towel is 83% effective. Masks also reduce the potential spread of the asymptomatically infected. Here's a video representing that. On the left is an uncovered mouth and on the right is one with a mask.

Starting point is 00:04:41 Recent research from MIT and Stanford has shown that when we speak, little saliva, micro-droplets come flying out of our mouth, six feet or more. Those droplets, if you're infected, contains millions of particles of virus. If I'm not wearing a mask, I'm putting my community at risk, and that just feels like an awful thing to do. Of course, it should be stressed that people shouldn't go out and hoard masks, taking them away from medical professionals. This is a great example of what can happen when smart, technically oriented people come together in a time of need. Ventilators have become essential in the battle against COVID-19, but health systems around the world are facing shortages.

Starting point is 00:05:24 To address this problem, engineers around the world have set up network communication platforms using technology like Telegram and even Facebook. Here, they share information about open-source designs for manufacturing ventilators with 3D printers. Anyone with a 3D printer can collaborate by printing the necessary respirator components. The goal is to make them available to healthcare services,

Starting point is 00:05:47 services. In just a few days, a group in Spain were able to build an open source respirator prototype. Another Irish open source hardware project has produced a prototype ventilator using 3D printed parts and readily available inexpensive materials. After the project was spun up on Facebook, the design was completed in seven days and attracted the participation of over 300 engineers, medical professionals and researchers. I think that's pretty cool. To add to this, come to this, Companies such as Tesla, Ford and General Motors are all pitching in to make ventilators. The detection of an outbreak and the issuance of public warnings are critical during pandemics. Blue Dot, a Canadian startup, developed an AI which analyzes news and government reports

Starting point is 00:06:43 as well as social media in order to track infectious diseases. It ended up issuing a warning before the CDC or the World Health Organization. Unfortunately, not many people listen to these warnings. Understanding what contextual factors make a disease essentially turn into an outbreak. And so this means that you need to look at everything from global air travel data, but also population data, climate, mosquito data, demographic data, and as well as a country's ability to respond to an outbreak. So once you combine and layer all those data and those modeling techniques, you can really

Starting point is 00:07:22 understand where disease will spread to and what the impact will be. Whether speed and accuracy of diagnosis can mean life or death, Jack Mars Ali Baba is coming to the rescue. The e-commerce giant has developed an AI diagnosis system which processes CT scans with 96% accuracy. Now over 100 clinics are using it. The tool can do in 20 seconds what it takes a human about 15 minutes. This is because there's hundreds of images to evaluate. Iran and many other countries are using AI image recognition. AI image recognition to diagnose CT scans.

Starting point is 00:07:59 Google's DeepMind Unit recently used their AI computing power to study public databases to guess the structural proteins that likely make up the coronavirus. The company then released its findings in an effort to help researchers work towards a cure. In the same vein, an open source hardware called Fold at Home is utilizing the power of over 700,000 home gaming PCs to calculate and understand exactly how the virus works for basis of future drugs. The piece... Are you one of those media strategy people

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Starting point is 00:09:12 Res app is a smartphone-based acute respiratory disease diagnostic test that uses machine learning algorithms to analyze a patient's cough sound to treat diseases such as pneumonia and asthma. They're hoping to use the system in the battle against COVID-19. Among other things, the United States government has unveiled a portal containing over 29,000 research papers already conducted on the coronavirus. In a joint effort with Silicon Valley, the tech giants are using their AI tools to crawl through these papers, providing new insights about the discoveries of thousands of independent researchers. Understanding how this new virus behaves, it's critical for defining measures that can stop its spread.

Starting point is 00:09:58 Next, Strain is an open-source project that provides. It provides data, sequencing and visualisations showing how the virus is evolving and if there are any possible mutations that can change its nature. It's largely understood that the virus hasn't become more dangerous over time as it spread. This data goes against the theory of a more deadly strain known as the L strain that causes more deaths. Israel is planning to repurpose its anti-terrorism technology in order to track the spread of the virus. This is pending cabinet approval. The technology would track the phones of the infected, allowing for the government to track their GPS location. They would know exactly who they've come into contact with and where they've been.

Starting point is 00:10:47 The United States government is also engaging in talks at Facebook, Google, and other tech companies to potentially bring about a similar system in the US. In Europe, the general data protection regulation, or GDPR, forbids the tracking of people's movements and contacts using smartphone location data without communication. In Asia, things are a little different. Singapore's Personal Data Protection Commission has allowed the collection, use and disclosure of personal data without a person's consent. They say it's to carry out contact tracing and other coronavirus response measures. Vietnam is tracking locals and foreigners through mobile apps, while Thai immigration authorities are using location data to track those arriving in the country. Call it what you want, but this is definitely mass surveillance. mass surveillance and definitely poses a serious risk to privacy.

Starting point is 00:11:39 It's a fine balance. You can slow the virus spread dramatically with accurate and more detailed data than you could have otherwise. Or it could very easily turn into a back door to spy on your population. The main problem is, when this is all over, will governments give back their powers? The answer is probably no. But then again, don't all of our governments spy on us anyway. It really is an interesting dilemma.

Starting point is 00:12:05 Privacy, Fabrice et is it something that kind of goes out the window when you're in a situation where you're facing a mortal danger as we are with this COVID-19 pandemic? Definitely, just like terrorism. It's always during crisis that you have a shift in acceptance and the way the government is going to control a little more of what used to be public freedom before.

Starting point is 00:12:31 All those apps going to be thrown away in, in five or six months. That's a very, very different situation. And this is something we have to ask ourselves and ask our government right now, because the decision we're going to take about those apps today will change and affect in a very hard way our society.

Starting point is 00:12:55 In many countries, researchers and scientists have been scrambling to create rapid testing. 15-minute tests are starting to appear around the world and antibody tests are on the horizon. The latter is going to allow for communities to know who has already had the virus. As most of the world has begun their lockdown stage, video calls are keeping people together. They've become essential tools for dealing with confinement. One of the prominent applications is Zoom, which, according to the New York Times,

Starting point is 00:13:28 received approximately 600,000 downloads in one day at the beginning of the pandemic. Despite reports of privacy concerns, the application is being used to organize team meetings or to help loved ones stay in touch with one another, and even for school classes. The last few weeks have borne witness to an unleashing of creativity. Users have organised concerts, workshops, virtual get-togethers, birthday parties, and even weddings. But out of this use, has spawned the phenomena of Zoom bombing. Zoom bombing is where a person barges into a school class or business meeting, only to display the most inappropriate imagery imaginable.

Starting point is 00:14:07 While it may range from mildly amusing to funny to truly disappointing, really it's just trolls trying to find a new way to amuse themselves in the age of COVID-19. While this outbreak is something to take seriously, it's not unbeatable. Humanity has persevered through difficult times. The way some countries are working together to stop this pandemic is uplifting to sea. Scientists and researchers no longer have geographical boundaries, and the world is starting to put all of this recent technology to very good use. So in finishing, remember to take care of yourself, practice social distancing and wash your hands of course.

Starting point is 00:14:52 And hopefully at the end of all of this, we can become better prepared for the future. We can use this crisis as a lesson to learn how to better organize our supply chains, global communications, health management systems, and also gain a new respect for those essential to our society. So that's about it. If you haven't watched my previous video on this topic, it's highly recommended that you do. I'll leave a link for it below. Anyway, thanks for watching.

Starting point is 00:15:17 My name is DeGogo, and you've been watching Cold Fusion. I'll see you again soon for the next episode. Cheers, guys. Stay safe. Cold Fusion, it's new thinking.

ColdFusion - COVID-19 - How Tech is Helping

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