The mask is to prevent vomiting on this flower, it is a Rafflesia arnoldii, the largest flower that exists. It needs flies for pollination, which itattracts with a strong smell similar to a decomposing corpse.
Fascinating that the only aboveground part of the plant is its flower! Hard to imagine how it is parasitizing some vines underground and then all of a sudden produces this monster of a flower!
Although it is the largest flower, it isn’t the largest inflorescence haha. But apparently both this plant and the one with the largest inflorescence (Amorphophallus titanum) both smell like something rotting and are so huge. I mean, shouldn’t it be easier to attract flies?
For the flower it is irrelevant if it smells good or bad, it is a simple question of producing the necessary moleculas for one thing or another to attract the needed insects.
Do it
Oh, I just noticed the joke! I’ve seen this pic a half dozen times now and I just noticed the joke!
I don’t know if the joke is too subtle or I’m just dumb.
Haha, it’s probably your device screen. It’s subtle.
I don’t know what this picture is about, but why vent holes on a mask!? Companies that sold these specifically to counter pandemic-era infection should be fined…
Masks like these existed before the pandemic. This one was likely designed for sanding wood or general dust, so clean exhaust isn’t necessary.
It’s used for venting out breath so it won’t fog up the glasses, good for dusty environment, definitely not for when you’re sick.
It’s probably for the smell. The plant is rafflesia arnoldii, which smells of rotting meat to attract flies as pollinators.
If it’s like other masks I’ve seen there is a flap or rubber gasket in there that acts as a one way valve. The US military uses M-50s and that’s how they work too
It’s normally closed. When you breathe in the air is drawn through the mask filter. When you breathe out the pressure pushes the flap open. When your exhale stops there isn’t enough pressure to keep it open and the flap seals up again.
Why would these be sold to counter infection?
That’s entirely my point, though I probably didn’t make it well. Maybe not this particular one, but all throughout the pandemic I saw people wearing similar Amazon/Facebook/AliExpress ones with vent holes, many stylized in other ways.
In other words, they sold products with specific aesthetic choices that made them less suitable for protecting yourself and others (obviously the entire reason mask sales skyrocketed during the pandemic), but made them more attractive to consumers exactly when we needed to protect each other. That’s profiteering.
