As the coronavirus continues to spread, some people are still debating whether they should wear face masks. So Bill Nye the Science Guy showed his audience just how effective wearing masks is in a couple of TikTok videos that certainly got the world’s attention. “This is a matter literally of life and death,” he said.

In the videos, the 64-year-old TV personality conducted a simple demonstration to explain why he and the scientific community want others to wears masks in public spaces. He blew on a candle to see how much the flame moves after he covers his face with a scarf, a two-layer cotton mask, and then an N-95 mask. Scroll down to see just what the results were! (A small heads-up, dear Pandas—one part of the second video may get a bit Bilbo-from-LotR-wants-Frodo’s-ring intense.)

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Bill Nye the Science Guy showed the world just how effective face masks are with a simple demonstration in two TikTok videos

Here’s Bill’s first video

@billnye##WearAMask ##LearnOnTikTok ##TikTokPartner♬ original sound – billnye

And here’s the second one!

@billnye##WearAMask ##LearnOnTikTok ##TikTokPartner♬ original sound – billnye

Bill and the scientific community want you to wear face masks in public spaces. Here’s why!

Bill less-than-subtly pointed out that nobody wants particles from somebody else’s respiratory system from getting into their own respiratory system during the Covid-19 pandemic. He also stressed that when he says it’s “literally” a matter of life and death, he used the word “literally” literally.

The scientist’s two videos got around 12 million combined views since he posted them on Wednesday. What’s more, they’re so on-point that even the Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, shared them on Twitter. “Listen to Bill Nye,” he wrote.

In an earlier interview, Bored Panda spoke about why some Americans don’t wear face masks with infectious disease specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong of UC San Francisco. He said that the virus is a medical, not a political issue despite some people believing otherwise. “The virus doesn’t care how you vote—it just wants to get in your nose or mouth!” he said.

“Ultimately, the scientific literature supports the use of policy with enforcement if we would like more people to wear masks,” Dr. Chin-Hong explained. “So far, this has been patchwork in the US with some states having orders and many states without such mandates. We need a national, not a regional approach.”

He outlined some possible interventions that could get people to change their minds and take wearing masks seriously. “Other interventions that have been suggested include appealing to patriotism (like how masking was messaged in the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic in the US), more marketing (public service announcement blitz, more endorsement from celebrities like Lady Gaga and others, branding of masks by fashion houses and sports teams), and community cultural change. In the US, more women than men wear masks and public messaging must also include interventions aimed specifically at men.”

This is what people had to say after watching the Sciency Guy’s TikToks

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