Recent comments in /f/askscience

FastFourierTerraform t1_j3h9qgl wrote

Reply to Are gaiters at least partially effective at blocking aerosols? by Lokarin

The CDC itself at one point proclaimed that masks were ineffective and possibly even counterproductive, so it's not just "some guy." The logic there was that cloth masks do very very little to stop viral aerosols, and on top of that, long durations of wearing them turn them into a warm, moist cover over your face, an environment that viruses love. Plus, unless you regularly clean them, the masks themselves turn into disgusting microbiomes.

Then the idea was that wearing any mask prevents you from spreading droplets, and so it was a good idea.

But covid is, of course, primarily spread through aerosols, which are going to essentially ignore anything below an N95+

There are arguments to be had about the dispersion of aerosols when the wearer is/isn't wearing a mask, but at the end of the day the fact that we don't asphyxiate on our own CO2 means that the air and aerosols are circulating pretty effectively, regardless of wearing masks.

As far as protecting yourself goes, cloth masks aren't going to do anything significant for you.

But, of course, the entire topic is so highly politicized now that you're unlikely to get an unbiased answer from anyone

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subcosm t1_j3h70gs wrote

Reply to What happens physiologically when we brace ourselves for things? by bee1413

I think a simple answer is that our senses measure change (or rather our brain experiences/notices change), and an expected change will naturally seem smaller.

Think of the classic scenario of throwing a frog into boiling water (it jumps out) vs dropping one into cold water and then slowly raising the temperature to a boil. The second frog is eventually boiled alive because the change in sensory input is gradual enough that the frog never notices.

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MonsieurReynard t1_j3h56i6 wrote

Reply to comment by Far-Contact7531 in How long does HIV remain infectious outside the body? by Terradubia

I don't think there is any known episode of surface transmission even documented for COVID. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen but it's exceedingly rare if it does.

Which makes all the wiping down and sanitizing people still do hygiene theater.

ETA lol people hate it when you tell the truth, and tell them their hand sanitizer and bleach wipe theater has no bearing whatsoever on covid risk. At some point ubiquitous dispensers of hand sanitizer became a performative way of saying "this business cares about your health," with little to no actual value except in a hospital or food service setting. Like so much else in our culture it's virtue signaling. If your business rally cared about Covid you'd have a masking requirement at all times for all people in the building, vehicle, or whatever. I laugh at people who don't bother to wear a mask but sanitize their hands a lot. There are other diseases that can help prevent, but not Covid. There's not one shred of evidence it helps.

Also gonna ruin your day: the dirtiest surface many of us touch every day is the top push button on a public hand sanitizer bottle. Think about it.if you really care about hand hygiene, soap and hot water are far more effective anyway. And any man could tell you how many fellow men don't wash their hands at all leaving a restroom.

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BigCommieMachine t1_j3gy0y6 wrote

Reply to comment by provocative_bear in Leishmania is a parasite that targets immune cells. Why is it less dangerous than HIV? by robotisland

Could you hypothetically engineer a virus that just injects the undamaged/unaltered DNA of a person back into infected cells?

I mean if if a harmful virus can inject itself in your cells DNA, could we just create virus with “normal” DNA that just boots it out? I mean this could even apply to other genetic diseases. Put a person on massive amounts of immunosuppressants and let the “helpful” virus go to town.

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