Hygiene
6 cards from across every topic, each citing a source. Tap one to open it in the feed.
- A doctor cut death rates by 90 % – and was mocked for it.
In 1847 Ignaz Semmelweis noticed in Vienna that up to 18 % of mothers died of childbed fever on the doctors' ward, but …
- A mouthwash is named after the man who made surgery safe.
In 1865 Joseph Lister read Pasteur's work on germs and began treating wounds and instruments with carbolic acid. …
- Roman toilet paper: a sponge on a stick.
In Roman latrines, people sat side by side on long stone benches with holes. For cleaning they used a xylospongium, a …
- Soap cleans because its molecules have two faces.
A soap molecule has a water-loving head and a long fat-loving tail. In water, the tails burrow into grease droplets …
- Why soap doesn't kill viruses – it tears them apart.
Soap molecules have a water-loving and a fat-loving end. The fat-loving end burrows into the lipid envelope of viruses …
- You wash your hands – then touch your phone.
A 2020 review of 56 studies found bacteria on practically every smartphone, including staphylococci and E. coli. The …