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Analyzing the chemistry and biology of wastewater from toilets and sinks can be a powerful tool for understanding the prevalence of diseases (including COVID-19) and public-health threats like opioid abuse. But it also raises serious questions about privacy and surveillance. What kinds of information should we collect? How can we protect people's privacy? Who owns and controls this sensitive and valuable data? Can find a balance between the health benefits and the privacy risks?

In "Beauty Surge," writer and editor Laura Maylene Walter, author of the novel Body of Stars, explores these questions through a story about an advanced wastewater epidemiology system on a college campus, how it shapes the student experience, and what happens when an alluring new drug becomes popular among the student body.
Read "Beauty Surge"
Response by environmental engineer Rolf Halden
"Beauty Surge" is part of Future Tense Fiction, a series from the Center for Science and the Imagination and Future Tense about how technology and science will change our lives. Look for a new story every month!

Copyright © 2021 Center for Science and the Imagination, All rights reserved.



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