A device that mimics the naturally disinfecting quality of fresh air could be used to purge hospital wards of superbugs, its makers claim.

The Air Disinfector, launched in London, UK, on 19 June pumps a continual stream of reactive hydrogen radicals into the atmosphere, killing microbes within minutes.

"The same results could be obtained simply by opening all the windows of hospital wards, but that’s not practical," says David Macdonald, co-inventor of the device and chief scientific officer of Inov8 Science, which developed it.

Macdonald and co-inventor Derek Elwood identified the so-called open-air factor phenomenon more than 15 years ago through experiments at the UK government’s chemical and biological defence labs at Porton Down in Wiltshire. They established that outdoors, microbes are killed by hydroxyl radicals, highly reactive agents constantly produced through natural reactions between airborne ozone and organic scented chemicals from plants such as pine trees.

Info from New Scientist

Similar to the effect caused by the can of hairspray you used in the early ’90’s, computers has now also been found to emit large amounts of carbon dioxide into the air. And the emission is no laughing matter, which is said to range at about 35 tons per year. The Green Shift taskforce has been appointed to oversee the production of the "green PC" service in the UK.

"The green PC service is part of a package of proposals that has the potential to make a fundamental contribution in meeting the challenge of climate change," he said.

"Critical to our approach is that sustainability and inclusion go hand in hand. It’s no use developing solutions that most people cannot afford."

These PC’s, if used effectively, will save 98% more energy than present computer models and will be the first of its kind throughout the world. The service is set for completion in 2008, with distribution in late 2009.