How Dirty Is Your Keyboard Exactly?

Alex


Photo: Shutterstock

Say hello to the bacteria on your keyboard: all 500 types of them!

In a new study, researchers took swabs of a variety of office equipment in New York, San Francisco, and Tucson. They found more than 500 types of bacteria, most of which normally live on our skin or in our nasal, oral, and intestinal cavities. Chairs and phones accumulated the most bacteria, followed by desktops, keyboards, and computer mice.

In a few cases, hardy microbes commonly found in hot springs and volcanic islands also appeared in the mix, perhaps tracked into the office following a vacation to St. Lucia or Yellowstone.

New York and San Francisco's bacterial diversity was virtually identical despite their nearly 4700-kilometer divide, while Tucson's microbes were more variable and tended to be heavy on desert soil bacteria in addition to the human-derived species. San Francisco offices were the least contaminated.

Link | The study over at PLoS ONE


Comments (1)

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Could it be something to put up where you don't want small birds? For example in a garden to keep birds away from freshly planted seeds, or growing plants.
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It's got a slot in the front, maybe for a piece that's now missing. The long bracket in the back mounts it as it sits...I'd say that it is a lantern holder.
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It's made to prevent burning wood pieces to go out the hearth in a chimney. (sorry regarding my english ... and see Alex I didn't post URL ! lol sorry for the last time I haven't read all the rules)
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Mmmh... Let's say 3 ^^:
- A candle or fire light source holder
- A bird feeder
- Two of those could hold a board on a wall and create shelves

:/
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Two of these are used like "hood ornaments" on
those Cinderella-type carriges, one at each forward corner of the cabin, on either side of the driver. The fitting at the bottom is for a lantern holder, and the one that goes to the driver's right is a
mirror image of this one.

They kinda symbolize gargoyles, which kinda
symbolize some kind of protection. :-)

Cheers!
Rich
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This is what is called a snowbird, used to keep snow and ice from sliding off the roofs of houses. You rarely see them anymore, mostly on the roofs of old homes with slate roofs. The snow and ice would melt, slide down the roof and get hung up on these where it would melt, not fall off where it could potentially hurt someone below
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I think Mark #18 is close but I think it, along with several others like it would be lined up at the bottom edge of a sloped roof--not to keep the snow from falling off ut to help it melt and run off frequently and evenly.
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