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Disturbing images reveal bacteria flying out of the toilet when you flush
A new study shows you should put down the toilet lid when flushing to avoid coronavirus and other illnesses.

- Slow-motion images show thousands of small droplets and aerosol particles flying up from a toilet during flushing.
- The bacteria in these particles can contain coronavirus and other illnesses.
- Closing the lid while flushing can prevent the germs from hitting your body or face.
You should put the toilet lid down when you flush, proves a graphic new study. Images show just how much contamination can be spread by one of our most common everyday experiences.
A survey of 2,000 UK adults found 55 percent of the respondents not putting the lid down before flushing. This is while a majority (72 percet) said they were paying much more attention to cleanliness than before. The catch is that toilet bowl water is full of harmful bacteria and pathogens, even if flushed several times.
What's so bad flushing with the toilet lid up, you ask? To make it painfully obvious the researchers demonstrated how germs propel out of a toilet during a flush. They used high-speed camera technology to capture thousands of small droplets and aerosol particles flying up from a toilet if the lid isn't there to stop them. The power of the toilet flush can disperse the largely invisible aerosol droplets full of germs to surfaces in the vicinity as well as people's faces.
Toilet flushing.
Credit: Harpic
The new study was carried out by One Poll and was commissioned by Harpic, which makes cleaning products.
"There has never been a more important time to take extra care around our homes, although the risks associated with germ spread in unhygienic bathrooms are high, the solution to keeping them clean is simple," an R&D associate at Harpic shared in a statement.
Toilet flushing.
Credit: Harpic
The study also inquired why people aren't putting the lid down and found that 47 percent of the surveyed just didn't know there was anything potentially risky about that. About 25 percent didn't like touching toilet bowl lids at all, while 15 percent generally forgot to do it. Shown the striking images, however, 95 percent of the responded vowed to make changes.
Interestingly, a previous report in Physics of Fluids found a similar problem for men who use urinals. 57 percent of the splash from flushing the urinal can travel to the person at the urinal in seconds, spreading germs and potentially even viruses (like coronavirus). This was also confirmed by a study from researchers in China, which found that toilet flushing can cause "clouds of virus-containing particles" to be formed.
Suffice it to say, you might want to lower that toilet lid next time.
- How Much Cleaner Does Soap Make Your Hands? - Big Think ›
- McDonald's touchscreens test reveals fecal bacteria - Big Think ›
- Study: bathroom hand-dryers just spray germs everywhere ›
A 62-year old Russian mystery (and conspiracy theory) has been solved
Some mysteries take generations to unfold.
Winter in the Ural Mountains
- In 1959, a group of nine Russian hikers was killed in an overnight incident in the Ural Mountains.
- Conspiracies about their deaths have flourished ever since, including alien invasion, an irate Yeti, and angry tribesmen.
- Researchers have finally confirmed that their deaths were due to a slab avalanche caused by intense winds.
a: Last picture of the Dyatlov group taken before sunset, while making a cut in the slope to install the tent. b: Broken tent covered with snow as it was found during the search 26 days after the event.
Photographs courtesy of the Dyatlov Memorial Foundation.
<p>Finally, a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-020-00081-8" target="_blank">new study</a>, published in the Nature journal Communications Earth & Environment, has put the case to rest: it was a slab avalanche.</p><p>This theory isn't exactly new either. Researchers have long been skeptical about the avalanche notion, however, due to the grade of the hill. Slab avalanches don't need a steep slope to get started. Crown or flank fractures can quickly release as little as a few centimeters of earth (or snow) sliding down a hill (or mountain). </p><p>As researchers Johan Gaume (Switzerland's WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF) and Alexander Puzrin (Switzerland's Institute for Geotechnical Engineering) write, it was "a combination of irregular topography, a cut made in the slope to install the tent and the subsequent deposition of snow induced by strong katabatic winds contributed after a suitable time to the slab release, which caused severe non-fatal injuries, in agreement with the autopsy results."</p><p>Conspiracy theories abound when evidence is lacking. Twenty-six days after the incident, a team showed up to investigate. They didn't find any obvious sounds of an avalanche; the slope angle was below 30 degrees, ruling out (to them) the possibility of a landslide. Plus, the head injuries suffered were not typical of avalanche victims. Inject doubt and crazy theories will flourish.</p>Configuration of the Dyatlov tent installed on a flat surface after making a cut in the slope below a small shoulder. Snow deposition above the tent is due to wind transport of snow (with deposition flux Q).
Photo courtesy of Communications Earth & Environment.
<p>Add to this Russian leadership's longstanding battle with (or against) the truth. In 2015 the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation decided to reopen this case. Four years later the agency concluded it was indeed a snow avalanche—an assertion immediately challenged within the Russian Federation. The oppositional agency eventually agreed as well. The problem was neither really provided conclusive scientific evidence.</p><p>Gaume and Puzrin went to work. They provided four critical factors that confirmed the avalanche: </p><ul><li>The location of the tent under a shoulder in a locally steeper slope to protect them from the wind </li><li>A buried weak snow layer parallel to the locally steeper terrain, which resulted in an upward-thinning snow slab</li><li>The cut in the snow slab made by the group to install the tent </li><li>Strong katabatic winds that led to progressive snow accumulation due to the local topography (shoulder above the tent) causing a delayed failure</li></ul><p>Case closed? It appears so, though don't expect conspiracy theories to abate. Good research takes time—sometimes generations. We're constantly learning about our environment and then applying those lessons to the past. While we can't expect every skeptic to accept the findings, from the looks of this study, a 62-year-old case is now closed.</p><p> --</p><p><em>Stay in touch with Derek on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/derekberes" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DerekBeresdotcom" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Facebook</a>. His most recent book is</em> "<em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KRVMP2M?pf_rd_r=MDJW43337675SZ0X00FH&pf_rd_p=edaba0ee-c2fe-4124-9f5d-b31d6b1bfbee" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hero's Dose: The Case For Psychedelics in Ritual and Therapy</a>."</em></p>As we approach death, our dreams offer comfort and reconciliation
As patients approached death, many had dreams and visions of deceased loved ones.
One of the most devastating elements of the coronavirus pandemic has been the inability to personally care for loved ones who have fallen ill.
Surprising new feature of human evolution discovered
Research reveals a new evolutionary feature that separates humans from other primates.
Human evolution.
- Researchers find a new feature of human evolution.
- Humans have evolved to use less water per day than other primates.
- The nose is one of the factors that allows humans to be water efficient.
A model of water turnover for humans and chimpanzees who have similar fat free mass and body water pools.
Credit: Current Biology
Skepticism: Why critical thinking makes you smarter
Being skeptical isn't just about being contrarian. It's about asking the right questions of ourselves and others to gain understanding.
