Just imagine. No more mildew, no more fungus, and no more poo streaks. The scientists at University of New South Wales hope to make bathroom cleaning a breeze. Starting with titanium dioxide nanoparticles that absorb UVA light (sunlight) to activate oxidizing electrons, they hope to take this technology currently used in self-cleaning windows and tweak the particles so that they can be activated by higher spectrums of light -- like sputtering neon tubes. Once that is achieved, we are well on our way to
a hands-off bathroom cleaning solution.
This begs the question: what about the toilet bowl? ABC News of Australia totally dropped the ball on the most important part of the story. That is why PoopReport is such an integral part of the blogosphere -- somebody has to catch the crap that these other journalists refuse to touch.
This self-cleaning process relies on light. But there is not much light in the toilet bowl. Even if the toilet lid is left open, the nasty under-ridge of the rim is not going to get any light. That is why I think these eggheads should hook up with the people at Johnny Light.
Watch the video on their site. The Johnny Light currently shines from between the lid hinges -- but I don't see why it couldn't be hung in the bowl, like those clip-on toilet bowl cleaners. Even better, the light could be built in to the nanoparticle-coated porcelain bowl. This could be the greatest thing since flushable toilets.
