Our smartphones don't just store our contacts, they also store the biological history of all our activities. Students at the University of Surrey placed an imprint of their phones in Petri dishes (the familiar round laboratory "dishes" you see on CSI) to see what each device "carries" on it.
The results of the cultures after three days are shown in the photos. Most of the bacteria found on the surfaces of the phones were harmless, but the images may only be indicative of the multitude of "life" that our devices hide.
Some of the more dangerous bacteria found are Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium that is often responsible for food poisoning. Scientists believe that 20% of people are chronic carriers of this bacterium, which resides in the respiratory passages of the nose.
The invisible life of your phone is revealed in the series of photos taken by the students and all we can think about when looking at them is… blah! Bring the Dettol now!!
Dimitrios Georgoulas
