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Pat Shingleton: "Fog Elimination and a S.A.D. Moment..."

3 years 1 month 4 weeks ago Tuesday, January 19 2021 Jan 19, 2021 January 19, 2021 9:00 AM January 19, 2021 in Pat Shingleton Column
By: Pat Shingleton

Since March and the implementation of mask usage, you may be experiencing episodes of "foggy glasses." Foggy glass has been a challenge for scientists for years and anti-fog sprays, that are available in stores, dissipate over time. Recently the suggestion of coating your glasses with shaving cream then wiping-away may have assisted.  Titanium dioxide based solutions have been used to chemically coat glass but only work in ultraviolet light. Researchers at the National Science Foundation and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency at Massachusetts Institute of Technology could have solved the foggy glass problem. These scientists have developed a transparent polymer coating that is made of silica nano-particles that can be applied to surfaces to stop fogging. Once water vapor in a warm environment hits a cool area like your windshield, the vapor condenses causing water droplets to form. The droplets make the light scatter in different directions, fogging up the glass. The new coating attracts the droplets and coagulates them into a sheet that prevents fogging. From fog to sunlight. The lack of sunshine can have an effect on our disposition.  In Baton Rouge we occasionally experience consecutive days of gloomy weather, including drizzly rain and showers.  Our weather can’t compare with Whidbey Island, Washington where they experience rain and overcast conditions for 260 days a year. Due to these conditions the suicide rate is high and duty deployment at the local naval base is limited to 18 months.  Many in the Pacific Northwest suffer from S.A.D. or Seasonal Affective Disorder, a specific type of major depression, which reoccurs at specific times of the year. The amount of sunlight exposure and changes in sunrise can affect suffers of S.A.D.

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