This visualization shows how droplets from a single cough can infect an entire airplane

Airplane cabin.
(Image credit: PETER MUHLY/AFP via Getty Images)

The coronavirus pandemic has likely turned people off from air travel for a bit, and this visualization produced by Purdue University probably won't change their minds.

The motion graphic shows the aftermath of just a single cough on an airplane, with tiny invisible droplets dispersing widely throughout the cabin, potentially infecting a large number of fellow travelers. That's not a pleasant thought, even in non-pandemic times.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.