A British mathematician says the current COVID-causing virus in the world could easily react in one canister of soda. The finding shows just how much damage can be caused by very small virus particles.
Christian Yates of the University of Bath studied global levels of new COVID-19 infections and made estimates of the level of virus in the blood of an infected person. He discovered that there are about two quintillion – or two billion billion – pieces of SARS-CoV-2 virus in the world at one time.
Yates said he came up with that result by measuring the distance over one part of a virus – about 100 nanometers, or 100 billion billion meters. It then finds the total amount of space that the virus can provide.
He said the total number is still less than one 330 milliliter soda can contain. He noted that aggregate implies that the pieces leave a lot of space between them when put together.
“There is amazing to think that all trouble, the disorder, the hardship and loss of life caused by the past year make up just a few words, ”Yates said in a report on his findings.
More than 2.3 million people have died in the COVID-19 pandemic to date. Approximately 107 million cases have been diagnosed worldwide.
My name is Jonathan Evans.
Jonathan Evans adapted this story for Learning English based on a Reuters news service article. The editor was Bryan Lynn.
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Words in this story
amazing – adj. causing a feeling of surprise or great surprise; surprise
make up – v. make up or create something
disorder – n. the act or process of breaking up or tearing apart
soda – n. drink containing soda water, flavor and sweet syrup