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Filthy as Toilet Seat
Hazard of Computer Keyboards
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The chief culprit for contamination is people eating at their desks and dropping crumbs which lodge between keys and
encourage the growth of millions of bacteria.
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Another peril can be added to the hazards of the innocent-looking computer keyboard.
Not content with encouraging repetitive strain injury, the type-pads sometimes harbor more filth than the average toilet seat and house millions of bacteria which can cause diarrhea and vomiting, a study has shown, the Guardian reported.
A microbiologist carrying out research published today for Which? Computing magazine examined samples from 33 keyboards and found a variety of bugs including E coli and Staphylococcus aureus, which can cause skin infections and make people ill.
The scientist swabbed a toilet seat and a toilet door handle in a typical London office for comparison. One of the keyboards in the experiment had to be removed from the office because it was five times dirtier than the lavatory seat and home to 150 times the acceptable limit of bacteria.
“[It] was increasing the risk of its user becoming ill,“ said the microbiologist, James Francis. “I haven’t seen a reading like that in a very long time--it was off the scale.“
Type-pads sometimes harbor more filth than the average
toilet seat and house millions
of bacteria which can cause
diarrhea and vomiting
Two more of the keyboards had “warning levels“ of bacteria, while a further two showed high levels of coliform bacteria, which are associated with fecal matter.
The research showed that the chief culprit for contamination was people eating at their desks and dropping crumbs which lodge between keys and encourage the growth of millions of bacteria.
Other causes included poor personal hygiene, particularly people failing to wash their hands after using the toilet. Dust, which traps moisture, also provides ideal conditions for the growth of bacteria.
“These results are generally typical of offices up and down the country,“ said Francis.
Sarah Kidner, the editor of Which? Computing, said, “Most people don’t give much thought to the grime that builds up on their PC, but if you don’t clean your computer, you might as well eat your lunch off the toilet.
“Why not give your PC a spring clean? It’s quite simple to do and could prevent your computer from becoming a health hazard.“
The survey, in which more 4,000 people were questioned, found that 22 percent cleaned their keyboard and 27 percent their monitor on a monthly basis. Just over one in 10 said they never cleaned their keyboard, while 20 percent said they never cleaned their mouse.
The magazine also warned that headphones can ferry germs between people and transfer head lice.
Which? Computing recommends that computers be shut down and unplugged before being gently dusted with a soft, lint-free cloth and wiped with an approved computer cleaning fluid.
A vacuum cleaner can be used to clean vents, but contrary to internet myth, keyboards should not be put in the dishwasher, the magazine said.
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Starlings Respond to Human Gaze
Starlings can tell if you are watching them, according to a study that has shown for the first time that starlings respond to a human’s gaze.
According to Telegraph, starlings will keep away from their food dish if a human is looking at it.
However, if the person is just as close, but their eyes are turned away, the birds resumed feeding earlier and consumed more food overall, according to experiments by Julia Carter and colleagues at the University of Bristol, reported today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences.
Could this be exploited to make a better scarecrow? “Starlings do seem to have a reasonably strong aversion to eyes, even to artificial eyes, but these birds are also very quick learners,“ she says.
“Previous studies have shown that starlings will learn within a matter of hours to ignore even relatively elaborate bird scarers--these devices never do what a real predator would, they don’t actually chase the birds or present any other signs of danger, so the birds quickly learn to ignore them.“
This fear of being observed directly may be hard wired into bird brains, since predators tend to look at their prey when they attack, so direct eye-gaze can predict imminent danger.
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T-Shirt Monitors Heart Rate
The BioDevices Vital Jacket heart monitoring shirt is a pretty cool-looking t-shirt with a serious purpose; it continuously monitors your heart rate.
According to LiveScience, the Vital Jacket is a “wearable vital signs monitoring system that joins textiles with microelectronics.“
The shirt was designed to be used in a variety of settings, from hospital rooms to the home, and for people on the move. The Vital Jacket provides continuous or frequent high quality vital signs monitoring.
It comes in two versions (available now): HWM100 that stores data on a SD memory card for posterior analysis in a PC and, HWM200 that allows on-line visualization using a smart phone/PDA. The device was designed for use in a “smart house for the elderly“ that could monitor the occupants.
BioDevices calls their new t-shirt an “intelligent wearable garment“ which actually sounds a bit creepy.
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Secondhand Smoke
Secondhand smoke not only damages the delicate cells that line blood vessels but also disrupts the body’s natural repair mechanism for those cells, a new study shows.
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New Apple Doesn’t Go Brown
Australian scientists have come up with an apple that does not go brown when cut. Unlike most apples, which go brown almost immediately, the fruit stays a pale pink color for several hours after it is exposed to air.
It will be sold under the name Enchanted, and State Minister Kim Chance said Wednesday he hoped its unique qualities would make it popular worldwide, AFP wrote.
“The resistance of Enchanted apples to oxidation makes it much more useful and attractive for industry,“ said Chance, Western Australia’s state agriculture minister.
“It is also likely to be very popular as a fresh apple for platters and lunchboxes, and for fresh juicing, where it retains an attractive pink blush and fresh, light flavor.“
The apple was bred naturally in Australia from the varieties Lady Williams and Golden Delicious.
Dream Comes True in Flying
Ever since the first human saw a bird soaring through the clouds, our species has harbored a great envy for the freedom that flying gives.
Now a company from Mexico is trying to capitalize on this desire with their design for a strap-on helicopter, which is intended to be worn on the back of an individual and lift them into the air, Physorg said.
Technologia Aeroespacial Mexicana (TAM), the company behind the Libelula strap-on helicopter, explains on its website how the device is powered by two hydrogen fuel canisters. Tiny rockets at the tips of the helicopter’s rotor blades take the place of a tail rotor, a component which couldn’t be safely attached to a human body.
According to the company, the Libelula would be the lightest helicopter in the world, so light that it could be strapped to a person’s body with a carbon fiber corset.
“The best [part] of this technology is that [these] kinds of helicopters don’t need a tail rotor because they don’t have any torque, so with a simple vane they can turn--being the simplest form of an helicopter and the easiest and safer to fly,“ the company says on its Web site.
Dash of Salt Grows Healthier Tomatoes
Watering tomatoes with diluted seawater can boost their content of disease-fighting antioxidants and may lead to healthier salads, appetizers, and other tomato-based foods, scientists in Italy report.
Besides their use in a variety of ethnic food dishes, tomatoes are one of the most commonly grown home garden vegetables, particularly cherry tomatoes. Scientists have linked tomatoes to several health benefits, including protection against prostate cancer and heart disease, Physorg said.
Researchers have known for years that seawater does not stimulate the growth of tomatoes, but scientists know little about its effects on the nutritional content of the vegetables.
In the new study, Riccardo Izzo and colleagues grew cherry tomatoes in both freshwater and in a dilute solution of 12 percent seawater. They found that ripe tomatoes grown in the salty water showed higher levels of vitamin C, vitamin E, dihydrolipoic acid, and chlorogenic acid.
Using saltwater to irrigate tomato crops also appears to be a promising alternative to freshwater irrigation, especially in the wake of water shortages in some parts of the world, the researchers note.
Bees Learn Thievery
Even the pinhead-sized brains of insects can learn new skills from their comrades-- including theft.
It seems bumblebees can discover how to ’rob’ flowers of nectar, scientists now reveal, LiveScience reported.
Normally bumblebees crawl into flowers to get nectar. In return for this sweet treat, blossoms coat the insects in pollen, which contains plant sperm. When these bees rendezvous with other flowers, they serve as couriers of this pollen, helping the plants breed.
However, bees can bite through the base of a flower to suck up nectar instead, avoiding the pollen altogether. Since they get something for nothing this way-- drinking nectar without helping the flowers mate--such behavior can be seen as theft. The bees may commit such an act to get nectar from blossoms they could not fit into, or just to get more nectar than possible by normal means.
Now it appears that bumblebees can quickly learn how to rob flowers if they visit blossoms that others have already burglarized. The bees could learn how to commit such theft by themselves, but this was rare.
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