Just to prove I don’t have sex on the brain, here’s another story about pointless science or technology and this time it has nothing to do with sex (unless you believe in the Watson Conjecture). It’s all about the UV index, and how we so called Homo Sapiens Sapiens, which literally means ‘man wise wise’ are too stupid to figure out how bad we’re going to get sunburned without some weather person telling us how bad the UV is. I mean, it’s not like I can open my eyes, gaze into the heavens, and arrive at my own estimate as to how much UV is making it through the clouds or clear skies as the case may be.
But now the European Space Agency, ESA, has gone high tech with it. Yep, they have developed “safe sunning” technology using satellites to determine and inform you of the UV index:
Thanks to an innovative service called HappySun, the UV Index can be delivered directly to mobile phones via SMS or can be accessed on the Internet. HappySun calculates the UV Index throughout the day by using ESA satellite data on radiation, ozone and cloud coverage. The service has just completed its two-year-long test phase and has received positive feedback from users.
“HappySun is a tool for the primary prevention of skin cancer,” Franco Marsili, Director of the Dermatology Clinic at the Versilia Hospital in Italy, said. “The aim is to educate people about the intelligent ‘use’ of the sun.”
Gee, I don’t know how I’ve avoided skin cancer so far without this revolutionary space age technology to tell me how long I can stay in the sun without getting a sunburn. I’ve been saying to myself for years I just can’t figure out how long I can stay in the sun without a reliable UV index.
We really should change our offical name to Homo Stupidus Stupidus.
