Say "Nose Cheese"!

Via.

Cheese is weird. It’s curdled milk that has bacteria in it—LOTS of bacteria. And guess what? The bacteria can come from lots of places. For example you could make cheese with human bacteria from toe jam. Or inside your nose…or your belly button.

I mention this because some lunatics—I mean, scientists have made cheese from the bacteria in human tears, toe jam, and belly buttons. That photo is belly button cheese—and it came from author Michael Pollan’s belly button!

And scientist Christina Agapakis had some cool stuff to say, too.

"Despite [their] chemical and biological similarities, there are obviously very different cultural and emotional responses to stinky cheese and stinky feet. By making cheese directly from the microbes on the body, we want to highlight these bacterial connections as well as to question and potentially expand the role of both odours and microbes in our lives."

But what does this stuff taste like?

"Nobody will eat these cheeses, but we hope that the cheese can inspire new conversations about our relationship to the body and to our bacteria."

In other words: “WE ARE WUSSIES!”

Your belly button is home to a terrible, yawning, richness of life. (Plus lint!)

Sergio Feria

Did you know that the belly button is one of the habitats closest to us, and yet it remains relatively unexplored?

It’s true! That’s why this study about the bacteria that live in belly buttons is so very important. Scientist Rob Dunn wrote about the adventure of research over at Scientific American:

We would culture the bacteria of people’s belly buttons to provide folks with a visual measure of the life on them, a reminder of the mysteries everywhere . . . We were finding hundreds and then thousands of species, many of which appear new to science. They included strange species, such as one species found on my body that appears to prefer to break down pesticides . . . 

As we looked at belly buttons we saw a terrible, yawning, richness of life.  The average belly button hosted 50 or so species and across belly buttons we found thousands of species . . . The vast majority of these species are rare. Right away something struck an ecological chord. The belly buttons reminded me of rain forests. 

One participant self-reported he had not washed in years . . . We would love to sample (albeit with longer swabs) more folks who never wash. Such individuals are probably more representative of the state in which our bodies existed until a few generations ago when it became popular to bathe regularly. In other words, our one bathless participant is closer to being like a king or queen of ole than the rest of us will ever be. Maybe we need to go to Burning Man to find others of the hygienic royalty.

Did you see that? He dissed the belly buttons of the unwashed attendees of Burning Man! *high five*

Man, am I glad I have an outie!

Robert Krulwich is a science expert who recently discussed belly buttons with a man named Adam Cole.

Adam: Belly buttons are "safe havens" for bacteria — they're protected from sun and water and unpleasant excretions. Because no matter what people claim, belly buttons don't get washed too often.

Robert: So did they find something important?

Adam: Oh, yeah. They found around 1,400 types of bacteria, more than 600 of which were unknown to science — they were completely new, unclassified organisms!

Robert: All from belly buttons? Why do they look so different?

Adam: Because they are different. As I said, belly button bacteria are personal. My guys, from babyhood on, have been different from your guys. Hulcr calls these "microbial signatures." We might share a couple of common types, but the combination of bacteria belongs particularly to us.

Robert: Why?

Adam: Well, I think that's the coolest part. We are born without any bacteria on our skin, but as soon as we are exposed to the world we start to accumulate microbes. The places we go, the things we eat, the people we interact with — they all affect our "microbial signature." Our belly buttons — or really, the bacteria they contain — are reflections of our lives.

Robert: But what would happen if I go in there with soap and a washcloth and get rid of mine?

Adam: You'll have trouble cleaning them all off — they're too much a part of your skin. When Hulcr resampled some belly buttons after a couple months and dozens of showers, their bacteria — the same bacteria from before — were still growing happily. You can't get rid of them. And you shouldn't want to.

Robert: Why not?

Adam: Well, they clean up after you, gobbling up sweat and dead skin. They even compete with each other to keep you clean.

Want to learn more? (I know I do!) Go to the website and keep going! 

Last Thing: OtisDog has a joke: Did you hear about the guy born with two bellybuttons?

 He kept one and gave the other to the navel reserve. 

Top photo by Sergio Feria,

petri dishes from NPR,

grazie to Dr. Michael Milone for the link!

The Belly Button: A wildlife refuge for germs!

This is not a joke: There’s a group known as the Belly Button Biodiversity Project. 

It is interested in the wildlife living in your bellybutton.

What, you didn’t KNOW there were creatures in your belly button? It’s the perfect hangout for them! Here’s why:

1.) Odds are you don’t wash your belly button with soap. (Most people don’t.)

2.) If you have an innie, your belly button is a protected area . . . sort of like a wildlife refuge for germs.

3.) Unlike your nose or underarms, the belly button doesn’t produce any wacky liquids or mucus. So germs can live their lives without interference!

So what IS in your belly button? Yellow bacteria, stinky molds and fungi, and gooey yeasts! But here, let’s have the Belly Button Biodiversity Project explain:

Ever wondered what microorganisms live on you? You are alive, but just how alive? How many living organisms are on a square centimeter of your skin? Very little is known about the life that breathes all over us. Each person’s microbial jungle is rich, colorful, and dynamic. Your navel may well be one of the last biological frontiers. It is time then, to explore! 

Sampling for Belly Button Bacteria: We imagine germs as bad, and yet most are not. Most are either good or simply present, whether in-between your toes or up your nose. The diversity on our bodies is fascinating and we want to share the joy of discovering it. You give us a sample, we will grow and identify the bacteria, and you get the results. Meet your personal ecosystem, in color! 

Why begin with the belly button? Because no one volunteers when we ask for armpit samples. Because our belly buttons are relatively isolated, a place where microbes are safe. Because everybody has one, it’s what once connected us to our past. Yet, we barely notice it in our daily lives, to the point that few people actually wash theirs. Which is great for the bacteria! They are well protected, and provide a refuge of our wild nature. The first step is to simply see who is there, the way the first explorers, upon arriving at new continents, simply wrote home to describe what they found.

Wow. Thanks to Body Odd for the tip! (Photo of baby from Boy27wonder.)

The Champion of Belly Button Lint: Graham Barker

Belly buttons were invented so that lint would have a place to hang out. Wait, that can't be right... *shuffles papers* Here we are: Scientists have studied belly button lint, and here are some results of their very important research:

Solent News & Photos

—Belly button lint is made of dust, dried sweat, fat, dead skin, and bits of fabric, usually cotton.

—Hairy people collect more lint than anyone else.

Which brings me to an Australian librarian named Graham Barker. He is in the Guinness Book of Records for collecting more belly button lint (or “fluff”) than any human. Right now, Graham is 45, and he harvests the lint in his belly button every day. And he’s been doing this since he was 19! Why? Here's what he says:

“[I] became curious as to how much of it one person can produce. I decided the only way to find out was to collect it for a while and see . . . That's all there was to it . . . just simple curiosity.”

Solent News & Photos

And that curiosity has led to a great breakthrough for the human race! Yes, thanks to Graham, we now know that thermal underwear (or “long underwear”) gives us more bellybutton lint than any other clothing. Yes!

Best of all, the lint never decomposes or stinks. This is handy, since Graham actually SELLS his jars of bellybutton lint. Who would buy it? A museum, of course. This is historic lint!

Graham says, “[Most people] are amused or surprised that such a collection exists. A few, usually women, recoil in mock horror, thinking that lint from a navel is really gross.”

Like the athletes who will poop their pants to win, Graham is a true champion: “I will stop collecting when I'm no longer physically capable.” But he is aware that it is, after all, only lint, adding, “If my belly stopped producing lint tomorrow I might feel surprised but not disappointed.”

Story from the Daily Mail.