Midmorning With Aundrea - August 11, 2020 (Part 1)

Research has shown how easy it is to spread diseases like coronavirus merely by speaking.

And we'll take a look at the "tree to toilet pipeline" whereby forests are destroyed en masse to manufacture toilet paper.

And we meet an artist who reproduces great photographs and works of art using bubblewrap!

>> that's her sound track.

A very specical midmorning starts right now.

A very specical midmorning starts right now.

Duke university researchers wanted to test how easily germs can spread even during normal conversations.

They used a box, laser, lens and ácell phoneá camera to visualize droplets ... and filmed people speaking into the box.

Conversations.

They used a box, laser, lens and ácell phoneá camera to visualize droplets ... and filmed people speaking into the box.

Nats stay healthy people it's astounding how much stuff comes out of you when you just speak, you didn't have to sneeze or cough.

It's the speaking itself that already generates lots of droplets.

You may not know that you're spreading the disease, you won't see it dr. martin fischer and dr. eric westman's team tested several types of face coverings.

N95s without valves were the best protection , and surgical masks were also adeqeuate.

Popular double- layer cotton masks provided good coverage as well.

But coverings like bandanas and neck fleeces did not block droplets much and may actually áspread them more.

Everyone has been saying something is better than nothing.

But your study actually says that's not the case.

That is not the case.

//you have this mesh in front of you, these big droplets that you emit, actually get broken down by this type of fabric into a bunch of little droplets.

The findings drive home how critical masks are, especially since the coronavirus can spread when someone doesn't have symptoms. if you want to reduce your risk and other people's risks of a transmissible disease.

The science is clear that you should wear a mask or wear a face cover.

Because researchers say wearing masks is one step we can all take to help end this pandemic.

Nancy chen, cbs news, new york.

Researchers also emphasize that the protection health care workers needs such as n-95 masks are not necessary for everyday life.

Not only are black doctors such a small percentage of physicians, black men are áespeciallyá under- represented.

In fact, medical school attendance for black men has actually dropped á39 percentá since the mid- 80s.

So dr. aaron palmer is a minority within a minority.

His is just one man's story, and it's a story of resilience nat before the sun even touches chicago's horizon... nat "i usually wak up/between 4:15- 4:30" ...doctor aaron palmer is rising to meet his day.

Nat at northwestern memorial hospital...he's training in neurosurgery... nat ...one of only 2 black neurosurgeons out of dozens in his department.

Nationwide only 1.3 percent are black.

Confused with housekeeping, you know-- transport, you name it.

I often have to, "no, i'm you know, your doctor taking care of you."/ really?

Yeah.// there aren't a lot of-- people of color that are physicians-- especially black men.

// that needs to change.

Dr. bak jahromi, who trains dr. palmer, says he sees the benefit of diversity every day.

Working with aaron is a joy 'cause he empathetically gets it.

He knows where our patients are coming from.// and// our patients trust our team more// black patients are 37 percent less likely than white patients to say they trust their doctors.

One reason: the tuskegee syphilis study.

From 1932 to 1972, the government experiment deliberately left black men with syphillis untreated... many died.

?motivation is not enough.

It's doctor william mcdade's job to help more minorities make it in medicne...as the head of of diversity for the national committee that oversees medical training.

?

.

There are economic disadvantages that have to be overcome.

There are educational deficits that have to be overcome.// and there is structural racism that exists in society that actually carries into medicine as well.

He says children of color also need to see doctors who look like them... nat ..something dr. palmer and his brother tim did not have back in akron ohio.

//where we grew up at, no one's a doctor, no one's a lawyer, no one's a judge their parents raised five kids... "this is it; all tor down now" ...in a 2 bedroom house.

His mother amy : //i had to teach my kids not to pick up syringes when they saw them on the sidewalk and that is not an exaggeration nats but like many low- income kids of color, he lacked resources and mentorship.

Until his college professor, ann caplea, gave him textbooks &and confidence.

Reunion nat anam5692 / ann "dr. palmer new track per standards: áweá arranged a reunion, more than a decade after a pivotal meeting ann: i was probably expecting her to say, you know // "it not something that's gonna happen for you."

/ but she said-- and i'll never forget this.

She said, "o course, i think you can do it."

How important is it to hear someone say, "you can d it?"

// that moment is the reason why i'm actually standing here with her support he got into medical school.

But 4 years later....no residency program accepted him.

You have a medical degree-- correct.

But-- --without anywhere to go.

Correct.

Dr. mcdade says medical students of color often struggle with isolation, impostor syndrome, and standardized testing..

And are more likely than whites to not get into residency or not complete residency traing.

But dr. palmer tried again, and northwestern said yes.

"my name is aaro palmer, i used to live in that blue house over there// now im down in chicago."

You a surgeon?!

Ap: i operateo n the brain and spine what would your ten-year-old self // think of someone like you?

// poor little ten- year-old aaron would-- his mind would be blown.

Now áhe'sá the role model his neighborhood never had.

Tag: and dr. palmer is paying it forward -- he mentors younger students and is even doing research on racial disparities.

But make no mistake, the state of diversity in medicine is dire.

The percentage of black and latin- x doctors has hardly budged in the last 15 years.

The path your tp takes to the grocery shelf is longer and more complicated than you may imagine.

We'll show you next the pandemic has been a boon for some businesses, like toilet-paper manufacturers.

A record amount was produced in february and march - more than 22-thousand tons a day.

But a recent report warns decades of production has been destroying the world's largest untouched forest in north america.

Consumer investigative correspondent anna werner takes a look at what conservation groups call the "tree-to-toilet pipeline"..

We're visiting labrador, canada&.with valerie courtois, a member of the indigenous innu nation&.

The boreal is first and foremost home.

It is the forest where we can be the people that we are indigenous peoples like hers have traditionally relied on the forest and its woodland caribou for food, and spiritual sustenance.&but she says both are threatened& we often say caribou and innu are one, and if the caribou were to disappear, i honestly don't know what would become of the innu people.

The boreal forest stretches from canada's eastern shore all the way to alaska&.

It keeps in millions of tons of carbon which many scientists say without the forest, would go into the atmosphere, worsening climate change&..

Now in its "issu with tissue" report, the nrdc tells consumers, they're literally flushing those trees down the toilet.

The nrdc scored toilet papers and flunked many popular products that used virgin forest fiber: quilted northern, angel soft, costco's kirkland brand, charmin ultra, scott1000 and cottonelle ultra all scored "f"s& products getting "a"s used high percentages of recycled materials - good choices, says the group - assuming you can find them&&nrdc's shelly vinyard: "of course, yo need to have toilet paper.

But the biggest makers of tissue products in the united states are making us unwittingly complicit in fueling forest loss in canada."

None of the leading toilet paper manufacturers would speak on- camera with us for this story - but all said their products do not contribute to deforestation&but there are other alternatives: and as you can see, it's nice and fluffy.

Houston lifestyle blogger joy green switched to t-p made from bamboo called "reel"&.so online&.

I don't think there's much sacrifice when you make the switch.

P&g, maker of charmin, says it's researching alternative fibers - but in a letter to the nrdc last year said recycled content "result in a substandard product" in the report, nrdc accuses p&g, which makes charmin, of "greenflushing" misleading the public with green claims. but p&g says its toilet paper is "sourced fro responsibly managed forests" and "for ever tree we use, at least one is regrown" they referred us to the certifying organization, f-s-c, which sets forestry standards&and its head, francois dufresne& so ultimately, you want a company like procter and gamble to gradually move away from using virgin pulp from old growth trees in the forest.

Over time, it's the right thing to do and increase recycling content.

Kimberly-clark, maker of scott and cottonelle, said it will reduce its use of virgin forest fiber by 50 percent by 2025 by using recycled fiber.

Georgia-pacific, maker of quilted northern and angel soft, said it ensures fiber is responsibly sourced.

Costco would not comment.

Anna werner, cbs news, berkeley, ca.

There's more to pop art than - that pop pop pop sound.

We'll show you next on mid morning.

You may love it - or it may send you up the wall.

Bubble wrap.

It's hard not to pop it.

But one man sees those bubbles with an eye toward art.

Lee cowan explains.

Nat/sot - french music?

George seurat's idea of a relaxing sunday afternoon -may look crowded in this socially distant world of ours.

But it's one of the most reproduced works ever.

"..bubble bein injected..."

But you may never have seen it - quite the way artist bradley hart sees it.

His canvas is bubble wrap - pre- made pixels that allow him to immortalize seurat's dizzying dots -- in plastic... "if you inject to slow or too fast, the bubble won't fill correctly..."

We know what you're thinking, because so were we& nat/sot bubble poping popping bubble wrap is alarmingly addictive -- but don't even think about popping it around the bubble wrap artist.

"i love bubbl wrap.

I love the sound of bubble wrap popping.

I hate the sound of bubble wrap popping in my studio...it means that something's screwed up..

Or someone's messing with my materials..

He spends weeks turning the ubiquitous packing material into art.

"nobody taught m to do this, i invented it."

From portraits of einstein - and biggie smalls - to scenes of wall street - and central park.

"there's lots o colors that are beside each other that when you step back, create a different color.

I'm playing with the optics on how color resolves on your eyeball."

"...bubble wra coming off assembly line..."

Bubble wrap has always been full of surprises.

It was invented by two engineers back in 1957 - originally to be sold as textured wallpaper.

Mercifully, the wallpaper never caught on - but bubble wrap's cushioning capacity did.

Nat/sot - hart working it even helped cushion a blow to hart himself back in 2003 - when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

"it was reall scary.

// 00:33:04 they said, "there' no easy way to say this.

You have ms."

And they kept talking.

And all i heard was, "yo have ms."

// 00: 033:1 and i thought my life was over."

For years - he was reluctant to stick himself with needles as part of his treatment.

But as his paintings became more popular - the bubbles seemed to speak to him.

"i realized t myself, i'm going, "oh my god.

Ho perverse is this.

You wouldn't inject yourself for a decade, but you're sitting here with thousands of syringes in front of you, injecting paint into bubble wrap."

Filling syringe 00:01:55 "oh this is good... he works up close and personal - closer to his canvas than most are with a brush.

"when i firs started doing it, i injected a couple bubbles, i stood back ten feet, i looked, i went, "o yeah."

And i wen back and injected a couple more..."

"did you really "yeah, yeah.

That' how i started.

"that must've take forever."

"forever!!

So he developed a computer algorithm - that allows him a bird's eye view of the bubbles - while he's working in his own "isn't it tedious?

"oh, it is.

It's 100% and people think i'm ocd.

But i'm not."

What he is - is efficient.

His process creates two paintings at once - turns out the drips from those syringes - have a magic all their own.

"...peeling sound... "i very carefull remove it from the back to expose the impression."

Yep - an impressionist work on one side - mirroring the pointillist painting on the other.

Bradley hart's work is a reminder perhaps in the midst of our pandemic - that we each have to do our part - for the betterment of the whole.

"i joke to peopl that i live in ain a bubble, and by the way, we all live in bubbles.

We choose who we let into our circle.

// 00:46:38 we've all been forced now to create micro bubbles.

// 00:46:44 but guess what.

All these little micro bubbles come together, they make a beautiful painting."

If you can't get hamburger meat, would you eat a meat substitute?

Find out what's available next on mid morning.

The pandemic is taking a bite out of an american favorite - the hamburger.

The virus sickened thousands of workers at packing plants - and beef prices if you can't get hamburger meat, would you eat a meat substitute?

Find out what's available