Back when millennials were kids, we actually listened to science. More specifically, we actually listened to science as explained to us by Bill Nye the Science Guy. And the beloved former children’s show host has been doing his best to restore that belief in science this year by creating quick, easy to understand videos about how things work and uploading them to TikTok.
His most recent video centers around the most controversial subject of 2020 — masks vs the coronavirus.
Insisting, like almost all credible scientists, that masks really do work to stop the spread of COVID-19, Nye explains how using a short demonstration.
First of all, he compares a map of the United States that shows where people are generally wearing masks (red ink) against a map where coronavirus cases are being reported (black ink).
“I hope you can see the fewer the masks, the more the sick,” Nye says.
But in case that obvious comparison isn’t enough for some people — and we know it’s not — he also explains how masks stop the virus from spreading.
“There’s a perception that a virus can travel through the fibers of a mask,” the Science Guy says, pushing a dowel through a colander.”
But viruses actually “travel in little droplets of spit and snot,” not on their own, and those droplets are big enough that they get caught up in mask fibers on their way out. He also explains that those mask fibers are all tangled up on a minuscule level, so just because a droplet gets past one little fiber doesn’t mean they’re going to get past all the others.
“That’s why we have rules about wearing a mask,” he says.
I love Bill Nye. Here’s how masks work!
— Titus (@TitusNation) December 4, 2020
While too many anti-maskers came out to claim Nye is wrong because of something their aunt posted on Facebook supposedly said by a doctor in another country nobody can find any record of, his video received a lot of support from people who just want everyone to stop being selfish so this pandemic can end one day.
Leave it to Bill to simplify shit for the simpletons https://t.co/dn4sFP4Grr
— Extra Gravy Podcast (@ThatDudeMCFLY) December 5, 2020
I was hoping he’d go ahead and drop the F bomb, you could tell he wanted to….
— Anastasia Beaverhausen (@Cole1979) December 4, 2020
Again, like a parachute, masks are not 100% effective. However, you won’t see me jumping out of any planes without a parachute.
— 🇨🇦Courtney Heard (Godless Mom) (@godless_mom) December 5, 2020
If only explaining science over and over again for almost an entire year as countries that believe in it actually manage to stop the spread of COVID-19 and the U.S., filled with anti-maskers, only grows in cases actually convinced people that science is legit. One would think something in there would do the trick, but you gotta appreciate Nye for trying.
Lead image screenshot: Bill Nye/TikTok.
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