And now a few years removed from a pandemic lockdown, and it's still kind of weird to think about.

現在距離疫情封鎖已經過了幾年，想起來仍然有點奇怪。

Viruses and bacteria are these invisible enemies that we just kind of deal with day to day, and they leave us coughing and sneezing our way through winters.

病毒和細菌是我們每天都要面對的隱形敵人，它們讓我們在冬天咳嗽和打噴嚏。

So we wield our sprays and wipes and sanitizers.

所以我們使用噴霧劑、濕紙巾和消毒劑。

But there is a powerful disinfectant that we've known about for a century and it still isn't part of this tool kit.

但是，有一種我們已經知道一個世紀的強效消毒劑，但它仍然不是該工具包的一部分。

At least not consistently.

至少不是始終如一。

Light.

燈。

This is the electromagnetic spectrum.

這就是電磁頻譜。

You've seen it before, literally here where visible light is.

你以前見過它，字面上就是可見光所在的地方。

The light we're talking about as a disinfectant occurs here: Ultraviolet light.

我們所說的作為消毒劑的光發生在這裡：紫外線。

There are actually three different types of UV light that occur at different wavelengths.

實際上存在三種不同類型的不同波長的紫外線。

The one shining down on us from the sun is mostly UVA and some UVB.

太陽照射到我們身上的大部分是UVA，還有一些UVB。

And that UV does all the things that people think UV is going to do so we can't shine it on people. Ok?

紫外線可以做人們認為紫外線會做的所有事情，所以我們不能把它照射到人身上。 好的？

It hurts your skin, it hurts your eyes, it gives you cancer.

它會傷害你的皮膚，傷害你的眼睛，也會導致癌症。

It does that by damaging the DNA in our cells, but ironically, those same properties that cause cancer also break down viruses and bacteria and stop them from replicating.

它透過破壞我們細胞中的 DNA 來實現這一點，但諷刺的是，那些導致癌症的特性也會分解病毒和細菌並阻止它們複製。

And we've known this since the late 1800s.

我們從 1800 年代末就知道這一點。

So researchers have been experimenting with low wavelength UV or UVC as a germicide for decades.

因此，數十年來，研究人員一直在嘗試使用低波長紫外線或 UVC 作為殺菌劑。

In the 1940s, researchers placed UV irradiation chambers in classrooms.

1940 年代，研究人員在教室中放置了紫外線照射室。

Now, don't worry, the UV light was being safely projected into the air above the children so they weren't being directly exposed to it.

不用擔心，紫外線會安全地投射到孩子們上方的空氣中，因此他們不會直接暴露在光線下。

But as air circulated the room, it could be cleansed.

但當空氣在房間裡流通時，它就可以被淨化。

Researchers ultimately found that it was effective at stopping the measles virus.

研究人員最終發現它可以有效阻止麻疹病毒。

Very effective.

非常有效。

Under 15% of the kids in classrooms with UV were infected, compared to over 55% of those in classrooms without it.

在有紫外線的教室裡，不到 15% 的孩子被感染，而在沒有紫外線的教室裡，這一比例超過 55%。

Later studies used rodents to test UVS effectiveness with other diseases like tuberculosis.

後來的研究使用囓齒動物來測試紫外線對結核病等其他疾病的有效性。

The air was irradiated with ultraviolet light first and the hamsters in the treatment group did not get tuberculosis.

先用紫外線照射空氣，治療組的倉鼠沒有結核病。

But these lights needed to be kept above people or hamsters and installed carefully using a costly process called upper room UV.

但這些燈需要被放置在人或倉鼠的上方，並透過一種昂貴的過程謹慎安裝，這個過程被稱為上層UV。

Because even though they operate at a low wavelength, it still isn't great to directly blast humans with it day in and day out. You know, because the cancer thing.

因為即使它們在低波長下運作，每天直接用它來轟擊人類仍然不是一個好主意。 你知道，那個癌症的問題。

This method is actually used in a lot of hospitals, paired with ventilation to help reduce infection rates.

這種方法其實在許多醫院都在使用，配合通風有助於降低感染率。

But having UV at the top part of the room can't do much to stop the germs being spread between people.

但在房間頂部安裝紫外線並不能有效阻止細菌在人與人之間傳播。

So more recently, researchers began looking for a better way to kill pathogens all around us.

因此，最近，研究人員開始尋找更好的方法來殺死我們周圍的病原體。

They ran studies to determine the most UV light that could be used to kill bacteria and viruses but also minimize harm to humans, which brings us to a type of UVC called Far UV.

他們進行了研究，以確定可用於殺死細菌和病毒，同時又能最大程度地減少對人類的傷害的紫外線強度，這為我們帶來了一種稱為遠紫外線的紫外線。

Far UV has a very low wavelength that can't penetrate skin deeply enough to cause damage, even in mice, specifically bred to be susceptible to cancer.

遠紫外線的波長非常低，無法深入皮膚而造成損害，即使是專門培育的易患癌症的小鼠也是如此。

This is a field full of tuberculosis hamsters and cancer mice, and I feel really bad about it.

遠紫外線的波長非常低，無法深入皮膚而造成損害，即使是專門培育的易患癌症的小鼠也是如此。

In test chambers, Far-UV is really effective at killing pathogens.

在測試室中，遠紫外線確實能有效殺死病原體。

This study is from 2020 when, well, you know what happened in 2020.

這項研究是從 2020 年開始的，你知道 2020 年發生了什麼事。

It showed that Far-UV was able to kill 99% of Coronavirus in a test chamber.

結果表明，遠紫外線能夠在測試室中殺死 99% 的冠狀病毒。

And this study found that it was 98% effective at reducing the bacteria that causes staph infections.

這項研究發現，它在減少引起葡萄球菌感染的細菌方面有 98% 的效果。

So why isn't it everywhere?

那為什麼沒有隨處可見呢？

In order to understand effectiveness, you first have to understand safety.

為了了解有效性，首先必須了解安全性。

While it's generally accepted that Far-UV won't give you cancer, there are other consequences to bring a UV light so close to the ground.

雖然人們普遍認為遠紫外線不會致癌，但將紫外線離地面如此之近還會產生其他後果。

We know really well that when you shine UV light on air, it can cause chemistry to happen.

我們非常清楚，當你將紫外線照射到空氣上時，會引起化學反應。

UV light produces a molecule called ozone, which can be harmful for humans to breathe in.

紫外線會產生一種稱為臭氧的分子，吸入這種分子對人體有害。

If you're exposed to lots of ozone, if you're exposed to lots of particles that your, sort of, risk for respiratory ailments goes up.

如果你暴露在大量臭氧中，如果你暴露在大量顆粒物中，你患呼吸系統疾病的風險就會增加。

But just how much of it is being produced by these lights in a real world environment is still up in the air.

但這些光在現實世界環境中到底產生了多少，仍懸而未決。

So in what ways can we use it?

那我們可以透過哪些方式來使用它呢？

That's a UV light behind you.

你身後的是紫外線燈。

Yes, it is. Yeah.

是的沒錯。

So this is a Far-UV light predominantly putting out 222 nanometer wavelength light, which is shown to be very effective in eradicating everything from viruses to bacteria to mold, allergens, and more.

這是一種遠紫外線燈，主要發出 222 奈米波長的光，事實證明，它可以非常有效地消滅從病毒、細菌到黴菌、過敏原等一切物質。

PJ Piper is the CEO of a company called Far UV Technologies that develops all types of UV devices.

PJ Piper 是一家名為 Far UV Technologies 的公司的CEO ，該公司開發所有類型的紫外線設備。

He believes that far UV will become more widely used in tandem with other layers of protection.

他相信遠紫外線與其他保護層的結合將得到更廣泛的應用。

I don't really look at this as displacing HVAC or filtration.

我並不真正認為這會取代暖通空調或過濾。

Those are important things.

這些都是重要的東西。

They just do different things.

只是不一樣。

HVAC is predominantly for climate control.

HVAC 主要用於氣候控制。

It also has a slight benefit of potentially removing the viral load.

它還具有潛在消除病毒量的輕微好處。

Filtration, similarly, doesn't change the climate control, but it's really important for getting rid of inorganic pollutants like smog or wildfire smoke or something like that.

同樣，過濾不會改變氣候控制，但它對於去除煙霧或野火煙霧等無機污染物非常重要。

But there's nothing anywhere near as efficient as light as a source to eradicate the pathogens that might be in the room.

但沒有什麼比光更有效地消滅房間裡可能存在的病原體了。

So pairing UV with other systems could help reduce pollutants too.

因此，將紫外線與其他系統結合也有助於減少污染物。

But Barbara and other researchers suggest we think about the cost-benefit.

但芭芭拉和其他研究人員建議我們考慮成本效益。

I think we could run into trouble. Is if people want to install these lights as a replacement for ventilation?

我想我們可能會遇到麻煩。 人們是否想安裝這些燈來代替通風？

A hospital where the risk of infection is very high, it could probably benefit from this, but an old school building on an average day, probably less so.

感染風險非常高的醫院可能會從中受益，但普通的舊校舍可能不會受益。

It might be some time before we start seeing Far-UV everywhere.

可能還需要一段時間我們才能開始看到遠紫外線無所不在。

The odds of a of a next pandemic, it seems to me that it's more a question of when rather than if, and so having technologies like this, I think is super important.

在我看來，下一次疫情的可能性更多的是何時而不是是否的問題，因此擁有這樣的技術，我認為非常重要。

I just want to be careful that we don't get so excited about this kind of technology that we wind up missing something.

我只是想小心，不要對這種技術過於興奮，以致我們最終會錯過一些東西。

Look, anyone trying to sell you a single miracle cure for anything is likely bending the truth.

聽著，任何試圖向你兜售某種靈丹妙藥的人都可能扭曲事實。

When it comes to fighting disease, whether that be the common cold or a full pandemic, there's no singular approach.

在對抗疾病方面，無論是普通感冒還是全面流行病，都沒有單一的方法。

We need a toolbox of options from vaccines to mask to chemical disinfectants.

我們需要一個從疫苗到口罩再到化學消毒劑的選擇工具箱。

And in time, it's likely that Far-UV could be one more addition.

隨著時間的推移，遠紫外線可能會成為另一個補充。

Maybe in various forms that we could bring with us to public spaces or installed somewhere above us without us even knowing as an extra invisible layer of protection against those invisible enemies in the air.

也許我們可以以各種形式帶到公共場所，或者安裝在我們上方的某個地方，而我們甚至不知道這是針對空中那些看不見的敵人的額外隱形保護層。

So if you want more info on UV light and germs, you can check out Unexplainable, Vox's Science podcast about unanswered questions.

因此，如果您想了解有關紫外線和細菌的更多信息，您可以查看 Vox 的 Unexplainable 科學播客，以了解有關未解答問題的內容。

They're working on an episode that goes deeper into everything we don't know about UV light and disease.

他們正在製作一集，深入探討我們對紫外線和疾病所不了解的一切。

And they'll take you through that original experiment where researchers just decided that kids were better guinea pigs than actual guinea pigs.

他們將帶您完成最初的實驗，研究人員剛剛確定孩子是比真正的豚鼠更好的豚鼠。

It'll come out next Wednesday, February 20th.

將於下週三，即 2 月 20 日發布。

But in the meantime, here's a quick preview.

但同時，這裡有一個快速預覽。

In 1937, 2 researchers had a kind of dangerous idea.

1937年，兩位研究人員產生了一個危險的想法。

So they figured the perfect place to test it out was in an elementary school on kids on the eve of a massive epidemic.

因此，他們認為測試它的最佳地點是在大規模流行病爆發前夕的一所小學。