CDC’s Smoking Robot Has 2-Pack an Hour Habit
A pack-a-day habit is nothing. This robot inhales two packs an hour. The Cerulean model SM450 is typically sold to tobacco companies for product testing (price: low six figures), but the one below is used for research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Its row of Teflon “mouths” can suck down 20 lit cigarettes simultaneously. Glass-fiber pads on the faux lips trap particulates (tar, lead, mercury, and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines), while gases like carbon monoxide and benzene are collected in separate compartments. Since 2007, the device has helped in several key findings. For instance, the CDC now knows that domestic cigarettes tend to have higher levels of nitrosamines; brands popular overseas have more of the dreaded polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Pick your poison!
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