Ick? Actually, this cell phone appears to be one of the cleaner of the bunch.
(Credit:
Simon Park/University of Surrey)
It's not news that cell phones harbor bacteria, but there's a difference between knowing that about your device and seeing the germs up close in all their furry, florid glory.
Molecular biology undergraduates at the U.K.'s University of Surrey recently got a stark view of just how much bacteria crawls their phones when instructor Simon Park had them imprint them onto petri dishes filled with a bacteriological growth medium and wait a few days to see what bloomed.
Spoiler alert: The experiment turned up lots of bugs, though Park says most of the bacteria were harmless varieties normally found on the skin. Disease-carrying bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus were also found, however.
"The ecological niche on the body for Staphylococcus aureus is the nostrils, so a furtive pick of the nose, and quick text after, and you end up with this pathogen on your smartphone," Park told Wired.co.uk.
Park -- who dabbles in all sorts of microphotography of natural phenomena -- describes himself as a "poet scientist who works with living matter in order to explore the inherent creativity of the natural world and to reveal its subtle, and usually hidden, narratives."
Indeed, it's as if each bacteria-covered cell phone tells its own story. Click through the gallery below to see what tales they have to tell.
Cell phone germs as art: Gross or gorgeous?
This article
Cell phone germs as art: Gross or gorgeous?
can be opened in url
http://newsrevelatory.blogspot.com/2013/02/cell-phone-germs-as-art-gross-or.html
Cell phone germs as art: Gross or gorgeous?
