Editing 1161: Hand Sanitizer
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | + | The number of germs that would be left after using the hand sanitizer is 200 million times 0.01%. 0.01% is equivalent to .0001 decimal, so the simple equation is 200000000 x .0001. That equals 20 thousand germs, which is still a surprisingly large number of germs. | |
− | + | Note that in some simple / business calculators entering the calculation as "200000000 × 0.01 %" is '''incorrect''' and may produce number such as 2 million. Pressing "=" after may also be incorrect and may produce 400`000`000`000`000. This is because the "%" key in those calculators does not denote that preceding number is a {{w|percentage}}, but instead signify an operation related to percentage, for example some calculator the "%" key will replace the preceding number with that number as {{w|percentage}} multiplied with the number before that ([http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2008/01/10/7047497.aspx How does the calculator percent key work? - The Old New Thing]). | |
− | + | Side note - Recently scientists have shown that it only takes 20 virus particles to infect someone [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2257098/Larry-projectile-vomiting-robot-helping-British-team-learn-stop-spread-norovirus.html] (with analyzed virus: not all germs are equally effective). | |
− | + | "Hipster CDC" is a combination of the acronym for the {{w|Centers for Disease Control and Prevention}}, an organization dedicated to studying infectious diseases and limiting their spread, with the label {{w|Hipster (contemporary subculture)|hipster}}. Hipsters form a cultural group associated with a distaste for popular culture; they stereotypically talk about how bands, authors, etc... were better before they went "mainstream" and proclaim that they liked a certain thing "before it was cool". The humor lies within the idea that the Hipster CDC and Hipsters would most probably have not used common anti-bacterial medicines such as hand sanitized. As such, the minuscule changes caused by these tools in prevention of the flu would never have taken effect on hipster culture, which would be exposed to the full brunt of the flue epidemic from the very beginning. Hence, the flue epidemic "peaked" within that community from the very beginning. | |
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+ | In this case, the period when the flu epidemic was "better" is probably 1918, when a {{w|1918 flu epidemic|world-wide flu epidemic}} killed tens of millions.. | ||
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+ | The humor (if a worldwide disaster can be said to be humorous) is in the dual use of the word "epidemic". The current mainstream news media is making a big thing of an up-surge in flu cases this season, sometimes calling it an "epidemic". The comic points out that, in reality, the worldwide flu epidemic is an on-going, multi-year thing, and the current seasonal up-surge is tiny and uninteresting in comparison to previous surges. | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
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:Poster: An invisible sneeze droplet can contain ''200 million'' germs! | :Poster: An invisible sneeze droplet can contain ''200 million'' germs! | ||
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:Product label: Our hand sanitizer kills 99.99% of germs! | :Product label: Our hand sanitizer kills 99.99% of germs! | ||
− | + | :Cueball (typing on calculator): 200 000 000 × 0.01% = | |
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− | :Cueball (typing on calculator): 200 000 000 × 0.01% = | ||
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:Cueball: Ew. | :Cueball: Ew. | ||