Just because you're stuck at home avoiding a virus doesn't mean the science stops. This morning, 13 Midwood Science students and 2 teachers remotely attended a live event at The Rockefeller University. Director of Science Outreach Jeanne Garbarino and virology graduate student Gabrielle Paniccia presented a live Q&A for about 120 participants. Topic of discussion: COVID-19 Science. Here's what our students had to say about today's event.
- The most interesting aspect is the explanation for the reason for social isolation and how difficult it is for such a social society.
- Viruses are really old and have been around for a long time and infect many species, even bacteria. 40% of bacteria are actually destroyed by viruses each day. Viruses technically don't live so they infect other cells and "take them over".
- The most interesting part was getting to know how N95 masks are fitted. Health workers have to test if they can taste artificial sweeteners in the air to see if things can still leak through.
- Do you think that playing outside with your neighbor children is not a good activity during this time and also, is it reasonable for schools to open again on April 20th?
- The virus's genetic material is RNA and it can be easily degraded. Therefore, the procedure to stabilize the RNA is complicated. This is why the testing kits are currently limited.
Was your brain as engaged as ours were at 11:00 AM on a Thursday morning?
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