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I haven't read all of the posts yet, but can tell you about the relative sizes of corona virus and alpha particles and protection using a N95 mask. An N95 mask will stop 95% of particles 2.5 microns or larger. An alpha particle is 1 times 10 to the minus 4 meters in diameter (100 microns) - think Helium without the electrons. Corona viruses range from 0.06 - 1.4 microns (10 to the minus 6 meters).
A N95 mask will stop most all alpha particles. We proved this in 1980 at the San Onofre Nuclear plant #1. One of the first commercial nuclear reactors built. They lost their respiratory protection program (by the NRC) and could not use respirators of any kind (except bubble suits). I was overseeing the work on some refueling tools highly contaminated with alpha particles and had the workers wear the N95 masks when management or the NRC wasn't around. They proved very effective when worn properly. We used an alpha counter to measure the contamination on the outside and inside of the N95 masks.
A N95 mask will stop most of the corona viruses, even though they are only tested/rated for 2.5 micron particles. It has some protection against smaller than 2.5 micron particles and is helped by the moisture exhaled on the mask from the inside. It will fill much of the pores, as anyone will tell you after wearing one for any length of time - breathing becomes more difficult. It makes it more effective.
Conclusion - a N95 mask will not catch all of the corona virus, but is effective at reducing the inhalation. I can't give you exact percentages, but I wear them for protection in Safeway and Walmart. Change them out regularly and it should be worth the inconvenience. 15 plus years of Radiation Protection/Health Physics and a minor in chemistry with 7 plus years of experience tells me that it will help.
And WASH YOUR HANDS.
You are closer than I was, too many zeroes for my poor eye sight. 3.6 X 10 to the minus 9th microns. 0.0000000036 micron. I edited my post. Thanks.I agree with your conclusion, but I think you may want to check your math on the size of an alpha particle (helium nucleus). - with infinite google knowledge an alpha particle is about 1 femtometer across which is about 0.000000001 micron. The mask effectiveness was most likely due to ionic attraction of the mask material, not the pore size. Of course everything I just said is suspect as I've inhaled my share of lead over the years.
Luckily it doesn't take much to stop an alpha particle. A thin sheet of paper or even your top skin layer will do it. It was easy to detect the particles on the outside of the mask, but almost no detectable on the inside. Maybe not the best comparison to the virus due to the +2 charge of alpha. I don't know if a virus has a charge. Go look that up Jay.I agree with your conclusion, but I think you may want to check your math on the size of an alpha particle (helium nucleus). - with infinite google knowledge an alpha particle is about 1 femtometer across which is about 0.000000001 micron. The mask effectiveness was most likely due to ionic attraction of the mask material, not the pore size. Of course everything I just said is suspect as I've inhaled my share of lead over the years.
"Unique" means one of a kind. So you are saying you are the one and only decent person in the world. I suspect you think "unique" means rare or unusual, a common misuse of the word.I'm relatively healthy too, yet I've lost my job in part to avoid bringing COVID home where I care for my 90 year old father. I make personal sacrifices to care for my father because I was raised to be a decent person and doing so is the only right thing to do. Unfortunately I've learned years ago this makes me unique in today's society. So sadly I'm not at all surprised to see this attitude from the younger generations.
I am sick of this crap.
If you are afraid of catching the china virus or one of those people with health conditions, stay home and isolate. However, do not expect me to wear a mask to protect you, who chooses to go out and risk exposing yourself. I'm not afraid of catching it. If I do, I am healthy, I will quarantine and get over it. But this sacrificing society, to protect a small population of the elderly or those with multiple health problems is not okay.
They keep pushing the over whelming deaths narrative. Well, that didn't come true, thank social distancing`? Yeah, sure, whatever.. I keep hearing about hospitals overflowing, yet even in hard hit places like New York that didn't come true, the fake media had to use old footage of hospitals to sell the hysteria.
If my not wearing a mask makes you upset, well piss off. I will not comply.
I was never one to buy into conspiracy theories, but I'm am done with this social experiment. I admit, it has worked, the masses have been corralled with fear. Now the time has come to let nature progress. The small population of at risk folk can fend for themselves and isolate if they are scared.
Yet now that people are relaxing... we are now hearing children are being affected. Can we really believe the media? I just don't care.
At this point, yeah, I'm willing to sacrifice a few, for the many.
Sign me up for a corona party!
The fungus I worked on, as a grad student in molecular genetics, had cells about 2 microns wide. They were clearly visible in a light microscope. So were the E. coli bacteria I worked on as an undergrad. They were about 2 microns long and 0.5 microns wide. Like other bacteria, E. coli is visible in a good light microscope. The corona virus is about 0.1 micron across. Like other viruses, its too small to see in a light microscope. You can see them in an electron microscope.You are closer than I was, too many zeroes for my poor eye sight. 3.6 X 10 to the minus 9th microns. 0.0000000036 micron. I edited my post. Thanks.
Takes a certain kind of person to fact check that kind of thing.
2020 will be remembered for generations. No matter how it turns out by December 31.
The preppers thought it would be zombies or a nuclear war. Turns out it was just a lowly virus. Besides the virus, everyone's main worry is the future economy and it isn't looking good. People think the Great Depression happened the last week of October in 1929. In reality, we didn't rock-bottom on unemployment until mid-1931. I do have worries about all this, but also hope people will pull together to beat this thing. This is not a political issue, but a human one.
...and sit on your couch, watch MSM and wear your stupid homemade mask...and you comply.It's a mess out there now. Hard to discern between what's a real threat and what is just simple panic and hysteria. For a small amount of perspective at this moment, imagine you were born in 1900.
On your 14th birthday, World War I starts, and ends on your 18th birthday. 22 million people perish in that war. Later in the year, a Spanish Flu epidemic hits the planet and runs until your 20th birthday. 50 million people die from it in those two years. Yes, 50 million.
On your 29th birthday, the Great Depression begins. Unemployment hits 25%, the World GDP drops 27%. That runs until you are 33. The country nearly collapses along with the world economy.
When you turn 39, World War II starts. You aren't even over the hill yet. And don't try to catch your breath. On your 41st birthday, the United States is fully pulled into WWII. Between your 39th and 45th birthday, 75 million people perish in the war.
Smallpox was epidemic until you were in your 40's, as it killed 300 million people during your lifetime.
At 50, the Korean War starts. 5 million perish. From your birth, until you are 55 you dealt with the fear of Polio epidemics each summer. You experience friends and family contracting polio and being paralyzed and/or die.
At 55 the Vietnam War begins and doesn't end for 20 years. 4 million people perish in that conflict. During the Cold War, you lived each day with the fear of nuclear annihilation. On your 62nd birthday you have the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tipping point in the Cold War. Life on our planet, as we know it, almost ended. When you turn 75, the Vietnam War finally ends.
Think of everyone on the planet born in 1900. How did they endure all of that? When you were a kid in 1985 and didn't think your 85 year old grandparent understood how hard school was. And how mean that kid in your class was. Yet they survived through everything listed above. Perspective is an amazing art. Refined and enlightening as time goes on. Let's try and keep things in perspective. Your parents and/or grandparents were called to endure all of the above –
....and you are called to stay home
You're assuming I'd blame doctors? I am not. My assumption was Administration may wish to bend the numbers in their favor.