How To See Germs Spread (Coronavirus) with Mark Rober

Cleaning commonly touched surfaces is really important, even if you’re washing your hands all the time and trying to not touch your face. It can still be surprising to see how quickly germs can spread from just one or two people to all over a room.

This video science experiment by Mark Rober is an excellent demonstration: How To See Germs Spread (Coronavirus). He added a powder called Glo Germ to the hands of just one teacher and one student, and then searched their classroom with a blacklight to see where the “germs” had spread.

Then he conducted a series of additional tests to see how far germs might spread through handshaking, purposely not touching his face, and when kids wash hands pretty well, but not very well. (Note: The last few minutes are about the video’s sponsor.) Rober professes:

In conclusion, what does this all mean in regards to Coronavirus COVID-19? You should be concerned and take this seriously, but regardless of what you see in the coming weeks, there’s absolutely no need to panic. As I’m sure you’ve heard a bunch right now, our goal is to flatten the curve so that reported cases stay just under the capacity of the health care system, and social distancing is the best knob that we can turn to effect that…

He continues…

This is going to be a bumpy ride for us but the economy is going to bounce back like it always does, and we’ll be better off as a global community for having gone through this. Again, take this seriously, but there’s absolutely no need to panic. We totally got this.

Update: This is reminiscent of the old 2010 MythBusters Contamination segment in “Flu Fiction” (episode 147) in which MythBuster Adam Savage hosts a party and ‘infects’ every guest (except for cohost and ‘germophobe’ Kari Byron) through normal social activities.

Watch more from Mark Rober on TKSST, including:
• Liquid Sand Hot Tub: Making a giant fluidized bed of sand
• Shattering glass with the World’s Largest Horn
• A lemon-powered supercar and making the world’s largest lemon battery

Plus, from Gross Science: How Far Do Sneezes and Vomit Travel?

Also: Whats the right way to wash your hands?