Pen-shaped device purifies water

From Los Angeles, at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology

Is the pen mightier than the microbe? That’s the question Mark D. Sobsey sought to answer for Miox Corp. in Albuquerque.

The firm, which specializes in large-scale water-purification technology, asked Sobsey’s research team at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to evaluate whether its new battery-powered, pen-shaped device can quickly rid water of harmful bacteria, viruses, and other microbes.