Fascinating Facts
Did you know...
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If you pick up a handful of garden soil you will be holding hundreds if not thousands of different kinds of microbes.
One single teaspoon of soil contains 1 billion bacteria & 120,000 fungi & 25,000 algae
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Microbes have been around longer than anything else on Earth, longer even than dinosaurs.
If you imagine Earth began as a single day:
Microbes appeared at 5am
Dinosaurs appeared at 10pm
... and humans appeared seconds before midnight -
There are 10 times more bacteria in the average human’s digestive system than there are cells in the entire body. This is approximately 1kg of bacteria.
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There are more microbes on one person’s hand than there are entire people on the planet.
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Microbes generate at least half the oxygen we breathe.
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Most microbes do not cause disease - less than 5%.
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Cattle belching and farting produce about 20% of the Earth’s methane.
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A study found that 30% of all people didn't wash their hands after using a public bathroom—although 90% claimed they do. Just think what may be on their hands!
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The toilet handle in most bathrooms at work has 400 times more germs than the toilet seat.
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Botox - a deadly bacterial toxin is used in very small doses to remove wrinkles.
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Some dentists recommend that a toothbrush should be kept at least 2 metres away from a toilet to avoid air-borne particles resulting from the flush – what a large bathroom!
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Dr Winkle Weinberg, an infectious diseases expert, reckons that when we have a cold and cough the virus particles can travel at 320 kilometres an hour and up to 900 metres. That is faster than a passenger jet at takeoff!
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The largest organism in the world when measured by area is the Honey Mushroom fungus. It covers a whopping 8.9km2 of a national forest in the USA.
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According to Dr. Charles Gerba, a microbiologist in Arizona the bathroom is cleaner then the kitchen in the average house. He says you're safer making a sandwich on top of the toilet bowl than in the kitchen.
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The dirtiest spots in the kitchen are dishcloths, cutting boards, sponges, and sink handles. Surprisingly, the floor is often cleaner than the sink!