『Copper’s Superpower』のカバーアート

Copper’s Superpower

Copper’s Superpower

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概要

 Phoenician soldiers, when injured in battle, would shave bronze from their swords into their wounds. Why? For the copper. Copper is often found in its pure state, rather than bound in ore, and is easy to bend. This made copper the first metal to be shaped by humans into useful implements around 10,000 years ago. The Copper Age lasted 5,000 years, until someone realized they could add tin to copper to make bronze, which was easier to melt and cast, harder as a finished product, and better for tools and weapons like Phoenician swords. Those soldiers and their contemporaries knew that copper is antimicrobial. High-copper alloys, like bronze, preserve that attribute. Egyptian doctors used copper to disinfect. Anatolian mothers fed babies from copper cups, since it killed the germs that caused diarrhea. Modern researchers have finally caught on, and for the past 20 years have studied copper’s antimicrobial effects. The process is still not completely understood, but when microbes—including the coronavirus—land on copper, it releases charged particles that invade the microbe, disrupt its DNA, and kill it within hours, even minutes. Studies have found that hospitals can reduce infections by up to 10 times by replacing plastic and stainless steel with copper alloys, and many have begun to use them for high-touch surfaces. The future of healthcare may benefit from the ancient properties of copper.
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