Bacteria are microscopic, single-celled organisms that exist in their millions, in every environment, both inside and outside other organisms. Some bacteria are harmful, but most serve a useful purpose. They support many forms of life, both plant and animal, and they are used in industrial and medicinal processes.
- All of the bacteria in our body collectively weighs about 4 pounds.
- The average office desk has 400 times more bacteria than a toilet.
- There're more bacteria in your mouth than there are people in the world.
- The "smell of rain" is caused by a bacteria called actinomycetes.
- Mobile phones have 18 times more bacteria than toilet handles.
- Researchers found 1,458 new species of bacteria in belly buttons.
- Sweat itself is odorless. It's the bacteria on the skin that mingles with it and produces body odor.
- A clean mouth has between 1,000 and 100,000 bacteria on each tooth.
- Chocolate has an anti-bacterial effect on the mouth and protects against tooth decay.
- Tap water has a shelf-life of 6 months, after which chlorine dissipates and bacteria starts to grow.
- There's a breed of bacteria that lives in hairspray.
- A dollar bill has 3,000 types of bacteria.
- When two people kiss, they exchange between 10 million and 1 billion bacteria.
- Most antibiotics are made from bacteria.
- After two weeks of wear, a pair of jeans will have grown a 1,000-strong colony of bacteria on the
- front, 1,500–2,500 on the back, and 10,000 on the crotch.
- The strongest creatures on Earth are gonorrhea bacteria. They can pull 100,000 times their own body weight.
- Offices with more male employees have far more bacteria.
- In 2013, a bacteria was found in New Zealand that's resistant to every single antibiotic known.
- Computer Keyboards can carry more than 200 times as many bacteria as a toilet seat.
- New bacteria grows on a kitchen sponge every 20 minutes.
- 20% of office coffee mugs contain fecal bacteria.
- Babies are born with no bacteria in their bodies.
- Some 15,152 types of life forms, from insects to bacteria, have been identified on the New York subway.
- A newly-discovered species of rust-eating bacteria will have consumed the wreck of the Titanic within 20 years.
- Beans increase flatulence because they carry a type of sugar called "oligosaccharides", which are hard for bacteria to break down, so they release gas in the process.
- Airplane tray tables hold more bacteria than most typical household items, a study found.
- Horseshoe crab blood is worth US$15,000/L, due to its ability to detect bacteria.
- The chlorine in swimming pools isn't what causes red eyes. It is the chlorine binding to the bacteria in the water.
- There are viruses that infect bacteria.
- It's estimated that a third of the world's population is infected with tuberculosis bacteria, but most never have any symptoms.
- Bacteria have the smallest eyeballs in nature but the largest relative to their size.
- A report found that the free weights at the gym have 362 times more bacteria than a toilet seat.