Koreans have invented a plasma deodorant

In South Korea, they came up with a device that uses plasma to destroy microbes that cause unpleasant odor in the armpits. According to the authors, to get rid of the odor, you need to use deodorant 1-2 times a day for several minutes.

The inventors presented a small gadget that shoots plasma at bacteria in the armpits. One and a half minutes of treatment of each armpit, and you can forget about deodorant for the whole day. The technology has already passed clinical trials.

The secret is that it is not the armpits that are to blame, but the bacteria. The sweat itself has virtually no odor - the stench is created by Staphylococcus hominis and Corynebacterium xerosis, which produce volatile organic compounds when they eat fatty acids from our sweat.

Inventors from the South Korean University of Hanyang came up with an elegant solution. PlaDeo creates cold atmospheric plasma that generates reactive oxygen compounds. These ROS burn holes in the cell walls of bacteria and destroy the stink molecules they've already produced. The device's silicone gasket leaves a gap of about a centimeter between the plasma emitter and the skin. This is enough for the ROS to reach the bacteria without damaging human cells.

If your armpits are especially "aromatic," you can double the exposure time to three minutes by pressing the power button twice.

The price is steep: $250 retail. But no more consumables — an eternal deodorant!