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Study: People Emit a "Germ Cloud" of Bacteria As Unique As a Fingerprint
An anonymous reader writes: According to a new study, we are all surrounded by a personal "germ cloud" as unique as a fingerprint. Lead author of the study Dr James Meadow says: "We expected that we would be able to detect the human microbiome in the air around a person, but we were surprised to find that we could identify most of the occupants just by sampling their microbial cloud. Our results confirm that an occupied space is microbially distinct from an unoccupied one, and demonstrate for the first time that individuals release their own personalized microbial cloud." The findings were published today in the journal PeerJ.
I'm pretty sure any dog could have told you that.
So we're all just like Pig-Pen from the Peanuts cartoon strips.
So, after all this time science discovers that auras actually exist.
I find it hard to believe that the cloud would remain as distinct as a fingerprint after, say 1 week. I didn't RTFA.
Does this "fingerprint" bacterial cloud change with time? after antibiotic use? what about members of a family or people that recently began living together? It does not feel like this will have a practical use in the near future, but opens some interesting lines of study.
this will be in the CSI:XXX scripts next season
6 year olds are right after all, there IS such a thing as cooties.
Summation 2
This is terribly news for my germophobia
So secret agents now have to wave petri dishes over their subject without being noticed.
So like fingerprint identification, this doesn't work on some people.
Hundreds of thousands of sniffer dogs will soon be made redundant (and euthanised) once technology that traces the individual microbial cloud hits Police units everywhere.
But can they smell truffles underground? That would really be useful :) No, wait, I meant bombs (obviously a typo). For security and stuff.
I find that I release a lot more of my personal cloud about an hour after lunch, especially if I've eaten at Taco Bell.
convicted for long prison sentences, and 20 years later, this whole branch of science is going to be proven a hoax. much like the hair samples. if you want to investigate, find out who funded this research.
...or an actual, respected (non-)publication?
Just curious.
The study seems to have spiked the results by offering breakfast burritos to the participants as they wait for their turn to be sampled. Further the few people who could not be detected using this method were the ones who did not partake in the free burritos. So basically this study just confirms common knowledge about people releasing bacterial clouds.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
What wonderful news!
... ever-changing. It's a consequence of the whole of you, how you live, and the environment you live and work in. Unique, and inefficient.
A good part of what makes a fingerprint usefull is that it barely changes...
You don't detect the human microbiome, but a part of it that lives in mouth, nose and skin.
I guess we're all Pig-Pen then?
Now we will have false arrests because your Stank matches
Something tells me that this is the real iCloud. Now we need an app to connect to it!
Farts will be outlawed as a method of altering your "fingerprint".
PROVE IT
https://xkcd.com/1471/
By "as unique as fingerprints", I assume then mean "not very unique".
things I hear on NPR while on my commute home always show up on /. the next morning!
We play the game with the bravery of being out of range
Would a husband and wife with as active sex life (for proximity) have roughly identical "germ clouds".
I came across some information on gut bacteria showing that couples quite often share the same gut bacteria (to a degree) after being together for a while.
Of course that depends on factors like how often they kiss etc.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
Now I just feel like a vessel for a bunch of germs. My body is nothing more than a bacteria bus. It serves no purpose other than to move bacteria from point A to point B. My wants and desires are simply the wants and desires of bacteria.
Usain Bolt is nothing more than a bacteria Ferarri.
this will be in the CSI:XXX scripts next season
Already talk about this on CSI season 15 Episode 3: Bad Blood
No, that will be major breakthrough needed to resolve this season's cliffhanger ending next season. (Gotta play the long game on these remember? No-one will see that twist to-catch-the-obvious-bad-guy-at-the-eleventh-hour coming! They'll HAVE to watch next season!)
Ever witnessed a bar toilet? The most disgusting germs go to bars. And you eat and drink there? No wonder you are sick man, sick you are.
after telling my wife about this study, she suggests that I become a part of the study, as she's sure an entire paper could be written on just me?
Pull my finger... go on, pull it... it activates my unique ID... one person at a ti... aw, my arm... I think there has been some kind of misunderstanding... can I talk to your supervisor... aw, that hurts... sir, can you remove your knee from my... no, I don't want handcuffs, just pull my finger...
Human Rights, Article 12: Freedom from Interference with Privacy, Family, Home and Correspondence
There's a XXX CSI? I must see this!