Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found out that the sneezes and coughs travel and spread 200 times faster than previously believed.

The study found out that the droplets forming a sneeze or a cough travels 200 times faster than they would have if the droplets moved as unconnected dots- an assumption that was believed before. However, since these droplets are airborne, they move like gas clouds, giving them more speed when they travel.

"When you cough or sneeze, you see the droplets, or feel them if someone sneezes on you," professor of applied mathematics at MIT and co-author of the study, John Bush said in a press release. "But you don't see the cloud, the invisible gas phase. The influence of this gas cloud is to extend the range of the individual droplets, particularly the small ones."

The researchers used high-speed imaging of sneezes and coughs and compared these with a mathematical simulation. The combination of the data created an analysis from the fluid-mechanics view. Their finding also debunked the previous belief that larger droplets travel faster than smaller ones.

"If you ignored the presence of the gas cloud, your first guess would be that larger drops go farther than the smaller ones, and travel at most a couple of meters," Bush added. "But by elucidating the dynamics of the gas cloud, we have shown that there's a circulation within the cloud � the smaller drops can be swept around and resuspended by the eddies within a cloud, and so settle more slowly."

With these results in mind, the study recommends engineers and architects to re-evaluate their design when it comes to workplaces, hospitals, schools, airports, and other public places. They could use the findings of the study to come up with designs that will stifle the speed of airborne pathogens.

Bush also expressed their team's desire to study the matter further. They are preparing to map out the pathogen's trajectory and journey from the source to the receiver.

Further details of the study were published in the April 8 issue of Journal of Fluid Mechanics.