Good news, germophobic travelers: Aircraft maker Boeing has designed an airplane bathroom that gives itself a cleaning after passengers’ visits.
Boeing’s self-scrubbing lavatory works by using ultraviolet (UV) light to zap “99.99% of pathogens” crawling on the bathroom surfaces. To ensure a truly thorough sanitization, the system lifts the toilet cover while the lights are engaged.
The entire UV scrub-down takes about three seconds, the Chicago, Ill. firm says.
“The UV light destroys all known microbes by literally making them explode,” said Boeing engineer Jamie Childress in a statement.
The high-tech lavatory is just a prototype for now. But Boeing has filed a patent on the system, signaling that it’s at least somewhat serious about the idea.
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