h a l f b a k e r yRight twice a day.
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The American work ethic is infamous around the world and the almost non-existance of vacations compared with Europe indicates the enthusiasm of Americans for working their asses off with small increase in compensation for extra effort. But the coffee break eats into this general ambience so to eliminate
this it should be possible to create nanoparticles of coffee dispersed by an office humidifier so that workers are continuously energised by breathing in caffein.
Some info on pulmonary drug delivery
http://pubs.acs.org...ch/97/dec/deep.html
About 3/7ths the way down for the optimal size reference. [daseva, Jan 28 2007]
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It would be impossible to standardise the dose, it could interfere with medication and it would prejudice against people who choose to avoid caffeine. Also, caffeine is a solid, so it would have to be dissolved in something and be distributed as a vapour, which would mean coffee or caffeine would precipitate onto solid surfaces, making everything sticky and probably breaking office equipment. |
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However, an implant or mainlining caffeine might work. |
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Water _cooler_ => _warm_...liquid? |
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I hear casinos pump oxygen into their gambling halls to keep you awake and broke. Maybe there is something here.. |
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Coffee nanoparticles can easily be encapsulated in a solid polymer shell, avoiding the precipitation problems and also controlling the release rate of the caffein. Though, I would just nix the coffee and make a caffein dry powder that could be dispersed in the air. |
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It still doesn't solve the problem of not having any way to regulate the dose. A controlled release rate from an arbitrary number of particles over an arbitrarily long time is still an uncontrolled dose. I have chosen not to have any xanthines at all and this would violate that choice. People on particular medications, such as bronchodilators, some antidepressants and various other drugs, are supposed to avoid caffeine. In any case, it's medication without consent. |
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Particle concentration in the air can be easily controlled, hense avoiding your arbitrariness. Of couse, breathing rates will vary, but I would suspect little deviation in an office setting. |
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But, yes, medication without consent is definitly a bad thing. Perhaps, a caffein room. [+/-] |
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OK, thanks for conceding that, [GumBob]. |
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However, it is still arbitrary because of factors like volume of distribution (e.g. body weight and amount of fat), basal metabolic rate and genetically determined differences in liver enzymes. Maybe a caffeine room would be good, like a smoking room. However, would caffeine actually be absorbed by the lungs? Come to think of it, it probably would, because the very similar theophylline can be administered by inhaler. How much would the air be able to carry? It would also avoid the first pass effect if inhaled, so it would be more powerful per unit than caffeine absorbed via the digestive tract, and one of the first organs it would reach would be the heart, so there would be quite a high dose at one of the most strongly affected organs. On the other hand, there wouldn't be any cafecrol, so the cholesterol would be unaltered. |
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A caffeine inhalation room is interesting, because of the parallel with tobacco. |
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Optimal particulate diamters for absorption by the deep lung are between 1 and 3 micrometers (looking for the reference), so we wouldn't necessarily need the nanotech either. I doubt these particles would suspend in the air by themselves, but maybe all we would need is an oscillating fan to keep them afloat. |
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I believe that what you purpose is possible
in a concentrated and enclosed area... but
I just don't believe there's a market for
something like this. Plus, people drink
coffee and take breaks so they can be
social and break away from the mundane
work they have to deal with--even if it is
only for half an hour. |
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Doesn't a seperate caffiene inhaling room defeat the whole point of this idea? |
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If you have to get away from your desk to inhale caffiene, you might as well just go and drink a cup of coffee or can of softdrink, that way you wouldn't get caffiene dust all over you either. |
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Also, I agree with [fred2386], breaks are healthy, no-one likes to work for 8 hours straigh (hell, thats why I'm here) ;) |
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I was thinking of the separate caffeine room to be somewhere people stayed in all day, presumably getting steadily more aggressive and shaky, along the lines of smoking and non-smoking compartments on a train or a cafe, not like a smoking room where one just goes to smoke. |
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I give this a fishbone just because I take my vacations ten minutes at a time at the coffee maker... |
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It'd probably make the days seem longer too, because time might seem to pass more slowly due to the stimulant effect, and there would be office rage too. |
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This wouldn't fly anywhere that Mormons work. |
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or just ensure you've got a pseudo-nurse walking around from cubicle to cubicle, randomly shooting caffeine doses into people's necks. Also add guardian with a whip in case of worker resistance. |
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Or forget the nurse and just get the guy with a whip. Productivity will soar. |
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Or get a nurse with a whip. You may be able to charge the workers extra. |
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Just the injection please, [jutta]. Being whipped isn't really my cup of tea. Nor my syringe of tea. |
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Do Mormons forswear all sources of caffeine though, or is it just coffee and tea? What about cola, Pro Plus, mate or guarana? What about the medical use of caffeine? |
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