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.
Comments (1)
idiot directing this thing had them clear of the car six inches below where he had them raise too. obviously this was poorly planned out too if they hadnt picked this kind of losd before they should have discussed the plan before and then got it done. Could have also loaded the backs of the forklifts down while lifting and tipoing to add a little extra stability then taken that off and driven back. if they had four Taylor lifts im sure they could have found a couple small forklifts to put on the back there tines pressing down on their counterweights. of course osha doesnt technically allow this in our country.