Using Fluorescent Powder to Show How Germs Spread

Former NASA engineer and science vlogger Mark Rober (previously) conducted a very interesting experiment to find out how germs spread around a classroom of elementary school children.

Using Glo Germ, an invisible sticking powder that fluoresces under UV light to simulate the presence of germs, Rober was able to track how a virus can make its way around a whole group with only two people (a student and teacher) “infected”.

I’ve always thought if we could somehow just see the germs around us everyone would be a lot more careful and we get sick way less. Unfortunately, that’s still not possible, so I did the next best thing by running a day-long experiment in this third-grade classroom.

Germs Spread Visualization

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.