Schlieren techniques demonstrate patterns of exhaled air spread from wind instruments and singers
The airborne spread of pathogens has assumed great importance in the public eye following the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 pandemic). In an interesting new research paper published recently on the
bioRxiv preprint server, scientists describe the dispersal of exhaled air, potentially infected, from singers and those playing wind instruments, using Schlieren techniques, a visual process that is used to photograph the flow of fluids of varying density. This could help assess measures to assess the actual spread of infectious droplets or aerosols in such situations.