Genius teens just created condoms that detect STIs, changing sexual health forever
File this under “How did nobody think of this before”: Three teenage scientists just revolutionized sexual health by creating condoms that detect STIs (sexually transmitted infections). In the most “Duh!” marriage of complementary concepts since probably ever, British Desi teens Muaz Nawaz, Daanyaal Ali, and Chirag Shah have invented “S.T.EYE,” condoms that change color when they come in contact with common STIs like chlamydia, herpes, and syphilis.
The three teens, who are 13, 14, and 14, respectively, came up with the idea for their city’s TeenTech Awards, and won in the Health category. What inspired three teenage boys to not just think about sex, but actively tackle a public health issue via something that some states don’t even teach about? As quoted by the UK’s Daily Mail, Ali says,
The science behind the S.T.EYE condoms is pretty ingenious. The “blobs” (to borrow British slang) are built with special molecules in the rubber which then react when they come in contact with specific bacteria, like those of the most common STIs. And when they react, they glow: That’s right, these teens created infection-detecting, safe sex-providing, hopefully-not-but-sometimes-fluorescent condoms.
With other teen innovations like a Wi-Fi-providing, color-changing hair clip and a sneaker that helps charge your devices at the TeenTech Awards, we’ve come to one main conclusion: Teens are amazing and totally going to take over the world with their amazing achievements and master of Internet lingo. Congrats to Nawaz, Ali, and Shah for their invention, and for contributing to a discourse around sex and health that actually tackles the latter without stigmatizing the former.
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(Image via Shutterstock.)
