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I agree and actually find it a bit insulting/arrogant that so many people think that they can build a better ventilator/mask in days without any knowledge in th

I agree and actually find it a bit insulting/arrogant that so many people think that they can build a better ventilator/mask in days without any knowledge in the fields. I am appalled to see tv news showing people making home 3d printed masks for use in local hospitals out of PLA and cut up HEPA filters. This is as effective as holding a tissue paper to your face, plus your breath the glass fibers from the HEPA filter you cut up and the bacteria that is trapped in the PLA layers.

cozzyd 7y ago
No one's claiming to build better versions of these things, but instead reasonable alternatives that are not unobtainium. PLA masks probably are in the category of doing more harm than good though.
- Cthulhu_ 7y ago
  But the things ARE the better versions already; they are ubiquitous, the process for mass-production (think of face masks atm) have been developed decades ago. It's a logistical problem caused by a sudden and unexpected surge in demand. There is no shortage of toilet paper, there's warehouses full of them (https://youtu.be/wA4KS546rZo https://youtu.be/wA4KS546rZo), it's just a matter of getting them to the shops. Nobody's out there making a better version of toilet paper.
  - Beltiras 7y ago
    I've seen people swear off toilet paper in favour of the bidet. Perhaps this crisis will wean us off a couple of unnecessary consumer habits.
  - sp332 7y ago
    There is actually a shortage of masks though. Companies that didn't even make masks before are now producing masks. That's not happening with toilet paper because everyone knows that toilet paper use has not actually gone up and demand will crash quickly.
vanderZwan 7y ago
In general, yes. However, in this particular case we have a paper with 26 authors, mostly physicists and engineers, humbly asking for feedback from the scientific and medical community. Not a group of people arrogantly thinking they have The Solution to our problems.

cozzyd 7y ago

No one's claiming to build better versions of these things, but instead reasonable alternatives that are not unobtainium. PLA masks probably are in the category of doing more harm than good though.

Cthulhu_ 7y ago
But the things ARE the better versions already; they are ubiquitous, the process for mass-production (think of face masks atm) have been developed decades ago. It's a logistical problem caused by a sudden and unexpected surge in demand. There is no shortage of toilet paper, there's warehouses full of them (https://youtu.be/wA4KS546rZo https://youtu.be/wA4KS546rZo), it's just a matter of getting them to the shops. Nobody's out there making a better version of toilet paper.
- Beltiras 7y ago
  I've seen people swear off toilet paper in favour of the bidet. Perhaps this crisis will wean us off a couple of unnecessary consumer habits.
- sp332 7y ago
  There is actually a shortage of masks though. Companies that didn't even make masks before are now producing masks. That's not happening with toilet paper because everyone knows that toilet paper use has not actually gone up and demand will crash quickly.

vanderZwan 7y ago

In general, yes. However, in this particular case we have a paper with 26 authors, mostly physicists and engineers, humbly asking for feedback from the scientific and medical community. Not a group of people arrogantly thinking they have The Solution to our problems.