Trillions Upon Trillions of Viruses Fall From the Sky Each Day

Alvin

Alvin

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Scientists have surmised there is a stream of viruses circling the planet, above the planet’s weather systems but below the level of airline travel. Very little is known about this realm, and that’s why the number of deposited viruses stunned the team in Spain. Each day, they calculated, some 800 million viruses cascade onto every square meter of the planet.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/13/science/virosphere-evolution.html
 
Who counted them? It must have been difficult, time consuming and horrendously expensive to do in every square meter on earth - 70% of them are difficult to stand on whilst holding pen and paper, and too wet for electronics.

Who paid for it? And as they clearly have money to burn, even whilst floating in the middle of the Atlantic, can someone ask them for a little donation ;)
 
Each day, they calculated, some 800 million viruses cascade onto every square meter of the planet.
Click to expand...

Well, given that the surface of the Earth is 510.1 trillion square meters, that's 408,080,000,000,000,000,000,000 (408.08 sextillion) viruses falling per day - or 53.7 trillion viruses per person.

The HIV-1 virus weighs 1x10^-18 kg. If that was the average weight of all those viruses, about 400,000 kilograms (900,000 pounds) of virus would be falling each day - roughly the maximum takeoff weight of a 747.

Of course, this may not be a very useful way of thinking about it. It's probably best to just imagine one gigantic 900,000 pound virus landing on Earth each day, because that would be too big to infect anyone.:)
 
Last edited:
Last edited:
arewenearlythereyet said:
So how many viruses in a sneeze? Does anybody watch where people put their hands after sneezing nowadays or is that just me ?:yuck::sick::cautious:
Click to expand...

I'm still reeling from the recent study that shows (as I've long suspected) that hand dryers in public restrooms are blowing bacteria all over your hands. :eek:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...em-all-over-your-hands-study-finds/511723002/

Supposedly more environmentally friendly than paper towels (I'm sure the cost in employee time needed to clean up paper towels has nothing to do with it), it seems like it's far more sanitary to let your hands dry off in the air (no doubt more so if you leave the bathroom quickly). In eateries, you could probably find napkins to take in with you to serve as towels.

I'm not sure if this applies to all hand dryers, though. The worst are no doubt the ones that suck in air directly from the restroom itself. There are others that are built into the wall in such a way that it is unclear where the air is coming from. Hopefully, in that case, the air is coming from a less bacteria-filled environment.
 
Forbin said:
I'm still reeling from the recent study that shows (as I've long suspected) that hand dryers in public restrooms are blowing bacteria all over your hands. :eek:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...em-all-over-your-hands-study-finds/511723002/

Supposedly more environmentally friendly than paper towels (I'm sure the cost in employee time needed to clean up paper towels has nothing to do with it), it seems like it's far more sanitary to let your hands dry off in the air (no doubt more so if you leave the bathroom quickly). In eateries, you could probably find napkins to take in with you to serve as towels.

I'm not sure if this applies to all hand dryers, though. The worst are no doubt the ones that suck in air directly from the restroom itself. There are others that are built into the wall in such a way that it is unclear where the air is coming from. Hopefully, in that case, the air is coming from a less bacteria-filled environment.
Click to expand...
I worked in a high risk food area once where they had to swab hands (to police hand washing) and train hand washing a lot. It truly is disgusting how many people don't their hands after going for a poo and how many people just do a cursory pretend wash. I like the paper towels so I can use them to open the door without touching the handle :eek:
 
Wonko said:
Who counted them? It must have been difficult, time consuming and horrendously expensive to do in every square meter on earth - 70% of them are difficult to stand on whilst holding pen and paper, and too wet for electronics.

Who paid for it? And as they clearly have money to burn, even whilst floating in the middle of the Atlantic, can someone ask them for a little donation ;)
Click to expand...
I suspect they figured out a cross section then multiply by surface area to get trillions upon trillions

Forbin said:
Well, given that the surface of the Earth is 510.1 trillion square meters, that's 408,080,000,000,000,000,000,000 (408.08 sextillion) viruses falling per day - or 53.7 trillion viruses per person.

The HIV-1 virus weighs 1x10^-18 kg. If that was the average weight of all those viruses, about 400,000 kilograms (900,000 pounds) of virus would be falling each day - roughly the maximum takeoff weight of a 747.
Click to expand...
I do wonder what the composition is and if they are different, in molecular weight, emitted by nature etc. I wonder how likely it is for viruses like the flu or Ebola to end up spreading planet wide this way, they may be mostly ocean organism infecting or tree based viruses?

Webdog said:
Scientists have speculated since the 1960s that life could exist in the clouds of Venus, despite the surface being inhospitable. There is even some observational evidence to support the idea.

https://www.universetoday.com/138935/could-there-be-life-in-the-cloudtops-of-venus/

Microbes might even be necessary for some snow and rain on earth.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-microbes-make-snow/
Click to expand...
That is very interesting.

Forbin said:
I'm still reeling from the recent study that shows (as I've long suspected) that hand dryers in public restrooms are blowing bacteria all over your hands. :eek:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...em-all-over-your-hands-study-finds/511723002/

Supposedly more environmentally friendly than paper towels (I'm sure the cost in employee time needed to clean up paper towels has nothing to do with it), it seems like it's far more sanitary to let your hands dry off in the air (no doubt more so if you leave the bathroom quickly). In eateries, you could probably find napkins to take in with you to serve as towels.

I'm not sure if this applies to all hand dryers, though. The worst are no doubt the ones that suck in air directly from the restroom itself. There are others that are built into the wall in such a way that it is unclear where the air is coming from. Hopefully, in that case, the air is coming from a less bacteria-filled environment.
Click to expand...
Well air drying will probably pick up many anyways before you get out of the restroom, and wet hands are probably very "sticky" to bacteria/viruses. Blowers like the Dyson airblade use HEPA filters, but how much more effective is this, i do not know, they still operate in an area of floating unhygienic air.


arewenearlythereyet said:
I worked in a high risk food area once where they had to swab hands (to police hand washing) and train hand washing a lot. It truly is disgusting how many people don't their hands after going for a poo and how many people just do a cursory pretend wash. I like the paper towels so I can use them to open the door without touching the handle :eek:
Click to expand...
Swabbing, wow i'm impressed and dismayed :wtf:
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom