We're making a USB stick out of a rapid corona test · Dlf Nova

Even if the rapid corona tests from private households only make up a small part of the increasing amount of waste caused by the pandemic – why not just reuse what works? Our Deutschlandfunk-Nova network hobbyist Moritz Metz therefore built USB sticks from old corona quick tests.

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Summer lets us forget it, but: The corona pandemic is not over yet and therefore a lot of used rapid corona tests still end up in the garbage every day. In general, the amount of waste has increased significantly due to the pandemic. One Study from California shows that private households contributed only eight percent to this and rapid corona tests accounted for only 0.3 percent of this – most of the garbage came from hospitals.

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A Corona USB stick goes viral

Nonetheless, reusing is always a good idea, which is why web hobbyist Moritz Metz was inspired by Mario from Paderborn, who came up with the idea of making USB sticks from old corona quick tests. Mario’s colleague Christian Brueggemann had a photo of it Twitter posted, which was very enthusiastically received by the users.

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First step: open the old tests. The test cassette can be opened with a butter knife or screwdriver. The test strip inside can then be removed. The annoying plastic nubs can be easily chiseled away with a chisel.

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Old promotional gift sticks with old branding are ideal as dispenser sticks. But it is easier with flat business card USB sticks.

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Fitting the thicker sticks works well with a marker, pliers, craft knife and hot glue. However, due to the thickness, a slight gap remains. That’s even better!

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Moritz’s brother Kaspar invented the triple-decker solution for this: an intermediate layer is created from the bottom of a second quick test, which creates enough space for the USB stick. And a slit positioned exactly above the LED lamp in an otherwise light-tight adhesive tape creates a particularly good effect.

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First test of the USB stick test: it works! And when describing the Sticks even the test strip flashes at the desired position.

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Use the USB stick as a virus scanner

Network hobbyist Moritz Metz recommends using the new stick as an external virus scanner. For example, there is the virus scanner software “Desinfec’t” from the computer magazine c’t. The software image is available online for free to download. Simply install it on the stick and “quickly test” any computer for viruses and clean it up if necessary, advises Moritz Metz.

By the way: If you load important data onto the self-made stick and it breaks: The free software Photorec & Testdisk can often serve as the last savior in an emergency.

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We’re making a USB stick out of a rapid corona test · Dlf Nova

A Corona USB stick goes viral

Use the USB stick as a virus scanner

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