Why These 'Cool Images' May Send You Scurrying For Disinfectant!
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At first glance, these pictures seem a little intriguing and even appear cool to some of you. However, that opinion may change once you realize that the images are not some kind of modern art but instead, those of actual bacteria that thrive upon the touchscreens of all smart phones.
The photos are a result of a classroom experiment recently conducted by the students of England's University of Surrey for their Practical and Biomedical Bacteriology unit. They began by lifting an imprint off their smartphone screens and transferring it to bacterial growth Petri dishes.
Within three days, the students were rewarded for their efforts with many different kinds of 'cool images' - All belonging to the different bacterium that were happily thriving on their respective cell phones. The good news is that most of them were like the genus Micrococcus, a harmless bacteria that is commonly found on human skin.
A few however, did have the Staphylococcus aureus, the bacteria responsible for ailments like staph infections and food poisoning. But Dr. Simon, the professor that assigned the experiment, was not fazed by that either - That's because 20% of people are persistent carriers of this bacteria while over 60% carry it intermittently!
Another common thing found was bacteria from things the owners had recently touched. For example, one Petri dish featured a dense colony of Bacillus mycoldes - A bacteria that normally thrive in soil, which led the professor to rightfully conclude that the owner of the cellphone had recently been gardening or somehow come in contact with mud. Not surprisingly, touchscreen phones harbored more bacteria than ones with keypads - Time to revert to good old flip phones again?
Resources: Dailymail.co.uk, gizmag.com
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399 Comments
- Abigailover 12 yearsso cooool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Rileyover 12 yearsThese things look cool and also awesome. And If I where to be experimenting on these it would be a good day. And if I where a sientist that would be the only thing that I work on. And I would love it so much too! And that's how much I love those things.
- Youngdarover 12 yearsJeez people get over it I'm pretty sure your phones have this bacteria on it too. Anyways most of it is harmless
- Liamover 12 yearsWhy would there be a project on getting bacteria? Why would they except the challenge? Were they being paid? It was totally gross! It could have made them sick! That reminds me, how many did get sick?
- WILLIAM DOGover 12 yearsGROS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Lilyover 12 yearsThis sounds very seriass I don't want that to happen to me. I think it's because you get sick? Probably it's the weather from outside in Spring and you play in the dirt. I feel very scared? Do you know who caught a bacteria on the very firs day? How do you know how this is caused? Thank you for leting me read this book that scared me and grossed me out!
- Calebover 12 yearsSo are classroom has them on our photos.That was so cool.I think that was the best.Why are they poisnes?How did you know this stuff?
- Annaover 12 yearsThis story was fantastice I hope we can read about something this cool.This is a picture many of us have never seen before.Do you like these pictures? I love them they are beauitful. What is the secend picture? I really like it. Captleashon understand pongwashon spacing.
- Fernandaover 12 yearsIn every question I would capiralize the letter in the bigging of the sentence and I would have to put a
- Nathanielover 12 yearsThat was awsume because it like had good imfermatoin and invise .The mitilerols that made harbored were aksholy prity nice.The coolest part was that it was about the jirm like things.IT was fun learning new things in this poem.How many harbored dose make revert.