 | Friday, December 03, 2021 | |  | Friday, December 03, 2021 | | |  | Canadian physicist Lydia Bourouiba says her research showed in 2014 that the two-metre social distancing public health guidelines were outdated. (Lillie Paquette/MIT School of Engineering) | In January 2020, Canadian physicist Lydia Bourouiba tried to alert the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the guidance to maintain a physical distance of two meters was insufficient.
Bourouiba is the director of the Fluid Dynamics of Disease Transmission Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The lab's 2014 research into the fluid dynamics of coughs and sneezes showed how droplets can remain aloft, travelling in a cloud of gas much further than previously thought possible.
"For the most violent exhalations like coughing or, particularly, sneezing, the overall range was up to seven to eight meters for the most extreme events, and then you can have anything between four to five meters for coughs, two to three meters for normal breathing, where you continue to see this gas cloud having coherence and swirling around with its payload of droplets," Bourouiba told Quirks & Quarks.
Learn more about Bourouiba's research on Quirks & Quarks. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | | Dr. Adina Weinerman, left, and Diana Beckford, a nurse in internal medicine at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. (Brian Goldman/CBC) | A Toronto hospital is trying out alternatives to strict mandates to persuade their staff to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Teams at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Hospital hold virtual and in-person huddles to take questions and offer information to employees.
Dr. Adina Weinerman, an internist and the medical director for quality and patient safety at Sunnybrook, often begins her sessions by talking about myths and falsehoods going around about the vaccine. "We took as many different approaches as we could to get as many staff trusted, trustworthy information that they could rely on and sort of dispel those myths," she told White Coat, Black Art.
Weinerman says close to 1,000 Sunnybrook staff have taken part in the program, and while it's difficult to track the precise results, she thinks they have had an impact. As of Nov. 27, the hospital reports 95 per cent vaccination rate among staff.
Read about Sunnybrook's approach on White Coat, Black Art. | | | | | | | | | |  | | | Dozens of people trapped in a British pub during a snowstorm enjoy a trivia night to pass the time. (Tan Hill Inn/Facebook) | Dozens of people who went to see an Oasis tribute band in the Yorkshire Dales, England ended up trapped at the local pub for days when met by a wonderwall of snow.
As the crowd watched Noasis, a heavy winter storm cut off access to Tan Hill Inn, leaving 68 people, including seven staff members, stranded for 72 hours.
Pub owner Nicola Townsend estimated the snow drifts were probably about nine or 10 feet high. But so were everyone's spirits.
"It turned out to be amazing," Townsend told As It Happens. "Everybody was really friendly, very accommodating, very patient and just really caring as well. So everyone got along really well, so it was no bother at all."
Learn what the snowed-in patrons did to pass the time on As It Happens. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | The Unforgivable stars Sandra Bullock as a woman who attempts to rebuild her life after serving a 20-year sentence for killing a sheriff. (Kimberley French/Netflix) | Sandra Bullock has received critical acclaim for many of her dramatic roles, which have earned her an Oscar and a Golden Globe. But after her latest film, The Unforgivable, she decided to return to comedy.
"I'm never doing a drama again," Bullock told Q. "I just want to do my comedy. I'm going back to comedy. And I'm going to fight for it and I'm going to enjoy it."
Back in the '90s, Bullock was known for many feel good and funny films like While You Were Sleeping, Hope Floats and Miss Congeniality. To this day, she said there's no greater rush than nailing a joke or improvising with another talented actor on screen — which isn't always as easy as it looks.
Read more from their conversation on Q. | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | A Canada Post worker wearing a face mask and a Santa hat makes deliveries in Vancouver, B.C., on Dec. 24, 2020. Experts say same-day delivery and returns can increase our carbon footprint. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press) | Many Canadians took advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals by shopping online. Experts warn that these online shopping deals and fast shipping may be increasing carbon emissions.
"When a consumer opts for fast delivery, businesses and delivery companies don't necessarily have the time to ensure that trucks leave fully loaded or along a well-planned route," Maddy Ewing, senior analyst on transportation and urban solutions at the Pembina Institute, told Cross Country Checkup. "In some cases, we actually also see fast delivery, forcing a shift to higher-emitting modes of travel like air."
But it's not just the delivery methods that are contributing to the consumer carbon footprint. Some shopping habits — for example, ordering the same item online in multiple sizes with plans to return the ones that don't fit — can also generate waste, as many return items are destroyed instead of being resold.
Get some tips for sustainable holiday shopping on Cross Country Checkup. | | | | | | | Share this newsletter | | or subscribe if this was
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