UMaine Planetarium To Help In The Battle Against Covid-19

I like stories like this...a lot. When people see potential for good in a situation, which seems by all other accounts to be bad, and then use their "super powers" to help; this is exactly the innovation and creativity that world needs right now.

And what makes it even cooler is that its happening right in our backyard.

According to a recent article in the Bangor Daily News, the University of Maine's planetarium is the second planetarium in the nation to lend it's powerful computing system to the fight against Covid-19.

Director Shawn Laatsch, who knew of the facility's tremendous scientific capacity, thought there must be a better purpose for all of that technology, then to go unused while sitting in an empty building, amid of all the Covid-19 closures.

So he did some digging and came up with a plan; he'd share all that computer brainpower with people who were working to get answers to so many of these Covid questions! Then he kicked his plan into gear.

"For the past week or so, the Jordan Planetarium has been running programs on its visualizers for researchers at a laboratory at the University of Washington, in order to visualize and predict the behavior of proteins. Those proteins may end up being used in the development of new diagnostics and even therapies to treat COVID-19."

Here's hoping that brilliant minds working on controlling and curing the spread of Covid-19 are aided in their efforts by these powerful pieces of technology. How cool would it be to say our University's planetarium had a hand in helping put the pieces of the puzzle together?!