In a remote area of Southeast Asia, drones are fighting a battle — not against terrorists or insurgents, but against infectious disease.
For the past few years many scientist have tried new ways to implement technology into fighting disease, and now drones are being used to help fight diseases! Drones are unmanned aerial vehicles that are, in this instance, used to detect areas affected by disease. Researchers in the island called Borneo have been using these flying robots in order to find out areas that contain the malaria parasite called Plasmodium knowlesi which has mostly been impacting macaque monkeys. This malaria parasite is quite dangerous since it is both deadly and can spread to humans. These scientists are using the drone called senseFly eBee in order to map and understand the path of this parasite and to find out what regions are affected by this parasite.
The photo above is the drone that is being used in Borneo.
I chose this article since I have been reading many articles about diseases such as Ebola, and I wanted to see how other diseases were being solved. This article caught my eye because it involved both technology, and how technology is being implemented to prevent diseases. This article stood out from the rest because these scientists were able to take a independent flying vehicle, and use it in the field of science.
I found this article very interesting since I did not know how technology has been helping prevent and cure diseases. I found it surprising that these drones which are usually in combat and war, is used to track a parasite. Usually when I watch movies I see drones used for combat and to spy on an enemy, and it was amazing to find out that researchers are taking a war related vehicle, and implementing it into the field of science.
Also, this article is pertinent to my life since there has been many diseases passing throughout the world, that may or may not effect me at one point. This article shows me how scientists are using technology in order to prevent diseases to reach others, including myself. It is comforting to know and inspiring that these scientists used high quality technology to stop the disease and allow me and many others to live in a life full of comfort.
The link to the Article: http://www.livescience.com/48396-drones-track-infectious-disease.html
This is interesting, a technological device that can detect diseases. How does such thing work? Are they large in size? How does it detect the disease. It would be great if this drone or other similar ones could detect other and all diseases. Maybe the drone can also fly out resources to people, instead of others who may get the disease. I hope that there is more research done with this type of technology.
ReplyDeleteI agree Nihal, that this new line of research with these drones could prove quite beneficial to scientists. I am use to only seeing drones used in war or dropping off the occasion package from amazon (yes, it exists, although I believe it is still in the developmental phases), but this new use of drones would only help. Imagine finding a new outbreak of disease and helping contain it before it could spread, such as Ebola. These new drones could help stop the spread of Ebola to new areas.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the first paragraph of this article, the thing that immediately came into my mind after seeing the "plasmodium knowlesi" was ebola. After finding out that an island was using the drones to prevent this disease from spreading makes me think of how these Drones could potentially prevent the spreading of ebola too. As Andrew previously stated, it is quite rare to see drones in a setting other than a military setting. This makes me think of how else our world could progress. Some things are used to accomplish a specific task, but now, is it possible to see many things change what they are primarily constructed for?
ReplyDeleteThis article was very interesting and gave an insight to new technology that can be utilized for medical purposes. For instance, in the future drones can be improved and be able to detect other diseases across the globe. In general, this is very helpful as humans don't have to go to affected areas to determine the impacts, but this new technology can give us this information.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with what Andrew was saying. I have only heard of drones being used in wars and very conservatively, but now they are using them for more purposes. I think it is great that scientists are doing this and I think it's amazing that technology has come this far. The fact that drones have this ability and that we are using it to benefit the greater good shows that humanity is still moving forward.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you Nihal, that it is great to see drones and other technology used for something other than war and military. I think this is taking a big leap into the future, and can give us more insight to help fight these diseases, and I'm very excited to see future use of this great technology. I wonder what else we could do with this, for example instead of just detecting where the disease is, but to actually help the areas where the disease is. Very interesting article!
ReplyDeleteAs you mentioned, Nihal, that all this time you have heard about or seen drones only in combat and war, or in movie scenes, but not ever in a scientific way. After reading this article, I was very surprised to learn that scientists in Borneo are using drones to help fight a disease. This is the only time I have heard about drones in situations other than war and combat.
ReplyDeleteWow this is so cool! As you said, Nihal, the only times I have ever seen drones used is in combat, war, or as Andrew said, an Amazon package delivery. It's fantastic that we decided to use something that could potentially destroy the world to save it. If we could stop the widespread of harmful diseases such as Malaria and Ebola, we could save the world from another epidemic that would be as terrible as the Black Plague.
ReplyDeleteDrones have been a highly controversial topic in the past few years. One of its main uses, is to spy on other countries. It is used as a military means of surveillance, and as a weapon. It violates the privacy of countries, and angers them. Using this drone to help with diseases, although is a commendable act, might provoke unrest in countries.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of using drones to detect disease is an interesting proposition, but the interests of those living in areas being scanned must be taken into account.
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