Modulation of air-conditioning settings to destroy respiratory viruses. This project aims to prove that manipulating the ambient humidity can rapidly degrade airborne viruses. The relationship between ambient humidity and airborne infection is poorly understood for viral pathogens including influenza and the common cold. The project will prove that indoor environmental conditions can be easily manipulated to kill airborne viruses. The findings will be used to develop indoor air humidity control ....Modulation of air-conditioning settings to destroy respiratory viruses. This project aims to prove that manipulating the ambient humidity can rapidly degrade airborne viruses. The relationship between ambient humidity and airborne infection is poorly understood for viral pathogens including influenza and the common cold. The project will prove that indoor environmental conditions can be easily manipulated to kill airborne viruses. The findings will be used to develop indoor air humidity control guidelines targeting the vulnerabilities of the viruses to minimise airborne infection.Read moreRead less
Aerosol glassy states promote global warming, airborne toxins and pathogens. This project will improve our understanding of the role played by airborne particles in global climate, pollution and the transmission of influenza, corona virus and the common cold. It will do so by revealing the wider importance of "glassy states" of matter recently revealed in atmospheric aerosols. Glassy states are highly unpredictable quasi solids that abruptly form, interrupting the transition of a liquid to a sol ....Aerosol glassy states promote global warming, airborne toxins and pathogens. This project will improve our understanding of the role played by airborne particles in global climate, pollution and the transmission of influenza, corona virus and the common cold. It will do so by revealing the wider importance of "glassy states" of matter recently revealed in atmospheric aerosols. Glassy states are highly unpredictable quasi solids that abruptly form, interrupting the transition of a liquid to a solid. This interruption invalidates equilibrium assumptions of models of droplets as cloud nuclei and infection vectors. We will develop and validate a numerical tool for predicting glassy state formation and its impact in broad classes of aerosol that include particles critical to cloud formation and infection transmission.Read moreRead less