A bit of advice to gadget-makers out there: If you’re going to claim that your ultraviolet light product can ” kill 99.9% of germs and bacteria in 10 seconds or less” or eradicate disease-spreading fungus and drug-resistant MRSA, then you should have the science to back these claims up. [More]
germs
Makers Of Ultraviolet “Disinfectant” Devices Penalized $1.3M For Making False Germ-Killing Claims
By 8.20.15
Your Warm Little Smartphone Makes A Perfectly Cozy Incubator For Bacteria
By 10.23.12
Ladies and germs, you can wash your hands and refuse to touch the bathroom handle at work without a paper towel as often as you want, but you might be cradling a veritable incubator of bacteria right up to your face all day long anyway. Those warm little constant companions of ours, smartphones, could be spreading bugs nobody wants. [More]
Science Totally Ruins Things For Everyone By Saying The 5-Second Rule Isn’t Really True
By 10.18.12
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve dropped food — on the floor at home mostly, maybe sometimes in the street — and depending on what kind of substance it was, shrugged, cited the “five-second rule” and picked it back up. I’ve never gotten sick from doing so, but now science has cracked that whole way of life wide open and said that actually, germs can totally stick to food within five seconds. Nooo! [More]
Does Every Business Transaction Need To Include A Handshake?
By 10.2.12
Dan isn’t a germaphobe exactly, but… well, maybe he kind of is. Airports are places where germs from all over the world get to meet and infect people in new and exciting ways. At the Enterprise car rental counter, the agent behind the desk would shake hands with every person in line, and this made him uncomfortable. He avoided the handshake, but wondered what other people would do. [More]
Places In Homes That Breed Germs
By 7.15.11
A house may look clean, but looks can be deceiving. Bacteria and other dangers could be building up in certain areas, poised to make your life difficult. [More]
Beware Dirty Lemon Wedges At Restaurants
By 2.21.08
The slightly alarmist HealthInspections.com has a story about dirty lemon wedges in restaurants—apparently they’re a “witch’s brew of bacteria,” to use the hilariously over-the-top language of the video narrator, who speaks in a parody of a newscaster voice. Our favorite trick of theirs: overlaying gigantic bacteria animations on everyday objects, as you can see in this screen capture. But anyway, the point is a microbiologist from New Jersey found various bacteria on three quarters of the lemons she tested from 21 different restaurants: “The very first sample that we took was loaded with fecal bacteria.”
10 Things You Can Do With Your Microwave Other Than Cook
By 2.6.07
In response to the University of Florida study that showed that microwaving sponges kills 99.9% of bacteria (p.s. they’re supposed to be wet) the Guardian has compiled a list of 10 things one can do with a microwave other than cook. Our favorites:
