Grandma's moistening kettle may have held off flu
Monday, February 9, 2009 - 17:28
in Earth & Climate
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Grandma may have been right about keeping a teakettle warming on the stove in winter to moisten the air. Studies of seasonal influenza have long found indications that flu spreads better in dry air. Now, new research being published Tuesday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, indicates that the key is the absolute humidity - which measures the amount of water present in the air, regardless of temperature - not the more commonly reported relative humidit...