With allergy season now officially here, I was once told that when you sneeze your germs travel at 100 MPH and can go as far as 30 feet.

Can that be true?

So where does one go to find the answer to such a technical question? Discovery Channel's MythBusters of course.

The first thing I learned (for future reference) is that the technical term for a sneeze is an "involuntary respiratory convulsion."

Jamie and Adam from MythBusters actually conducted an experiment to see for themselves if the 100 MPH sneeze was possible or not.

They started out by each sniffing some snuff to muster up a strong sneeze. Then they stood in front of their ultra-high-speed camera and "let loose."

Their findings: well, your typical sneeze is nowhere near 100 MPH. Adam's sneeze traveled at 35 MPH and Jamie's traveled at 39 MPH.

As as far as distance is concerned, neither one broke the 20-foot mark. Adam's phlegm landed 17 feet away, Jamie's 13 feet away.

So, based on what the the guys from MythBusters determined - NO, your sneeze does not travel at 100 MPH and DOES NOT travel 30 feet.

So now you know.

Following is the actual video of MythBusters testing their theory.


See Also:

 

More From Hot 104.7 - KKLS-FM