A British math expert says all the COVID-causing virus that currently exists in the world could easily fit inside a single can of soda. The finding shows just how much damage can be caused by very small virus particles.
一位英国数学专家表示，全球现存的所有新冠病毒可以轻松放入一个汽水罐中。该研究结果表明了极其细小的病毒颗粒会造成多大的损害。

Christian Yates of the University of Bath studied worldwide rates of new COVID-19 infections and made estimates of the amount of virus in an infected person's blood. He found that there are about two quintillion - or two billion billion - SARS-CoV-2 virus particles in the world at any one time.
巴斯大学的克里斯蒂安·耶茨研究了新冠病毒的全球感染率，并对感染者血液中的病毒数量进行了估算。他发现世界上任意时刻都大约有200亿亿个新冠病毒颗粒。

Yates said he came up with that result by measuring the distance across one virus particle - about 100 nanometers, or 100 billionths of a meter. He then found the total amount of space the virus takes up.
耶茨表示，他通过测量病毒颗粒之间的距离（大约是100纳米，也就是一千亿分之一米）得出了这一结果。然后他发现了这种病毒占用的空间总量。

He said the total is still less than can be contained in a single 330 milliliter soda can. He noted that total includes the fact that the particles will leave a lot of space in between when placed together.
他说，这个总量仍然低于一个330毫升的汽水罐的容量。他指出，这个总量包含了以下事实：当放置在一起时，这些粒子之间会留出很大空间。

"It's astonishing to think that all the trouble, the disruption, the hardship and the loss of life that has resulted over the last year could constitute just a few mouthfuls," Yates said in a report on his findings.
耶茨在他的研究报告中表示：“ 想到过去这一年来所有这些麻烦、破坏、艰辛和失去的生命，只是几口的量的病毒造成的，就很惊人。"

More than 2.3 million people have died in the COVID-19 pandemic so far. There have been about 107 million confirmed cases worldwide.
到目前为止，已经有超过230万人死于新冠肺炎大流行。全球大约有1.07亿例确诊病例。

I'm Jonathan Evans.
我是乔纳森·埃文斯。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，禁止转载，违者必究！)

A British math expert says all the COVID-causing virus that currently exists in the world could easily fit inside a single can of soda. The finding shows just how much damage can be caused by very small virus particles.

Christian Yates of the University of Bath studied worldwide rates of new COVID-19 infections and made estimates of the amount of virus in an infected person's blood. He found that there are about two quintillion - or two billion billion - SARS-CoV-2 virus particles in the world at any one time.

Yates said he came up with that result by measuring the distance across one virus particle - about 100 nanometers, or 100 billionths of a meter. He then found the total amount of space the virus takes up.

FILE PHOTO: Regular and mini cans of Coke and Pepsi are pictured in this photo illustration in New York, August 5, 2014. REUTERS/Carlo Allegro/File Photo

He said the total is still less than can be contained in a single 330 milliliter soda can. He noted that total includes the fact that the particles will leave a lot of space in between when placed together.

"It's astonishing to think that all the trouble, the disruption, the hardship and the loss of life that has resulted over the last year could constitute just a few mouthfuls," Yates said in a report on his findings.

More than 2.3 million people have died in the COVID-19 pandemic so far. There have been about 107 million confirmed cases worldwide.

I'm Jonathan Evans.

Jonathan Evans adapted this story for Learning English based on a Reuters news service article. Bryan Lynn was the editor.

Words in This Story

astonishing – adj. causing a feeling of great surprise or wonder; surprising

constitute – v. to make up or form something

disruption – n. the act or process of breaking apart or rupturing

soda – n. a beverage containing soda water, flavoring, and a sweet syrup