Monday, June 21, 2010

The Microbiology of Trophies

Remember "cooties" in grade school? You know, the germs or disease that girls gave boys or boys gave girls in grade school if they touched? Well, it seems they're becoming an an epidemic (video).

So thank goodness someone checked for "cooties" on the Stanley Cup:
The NHL champion Blackhawks' beloved trophy stopped by the Chicago Tribune newsroom Thursday, and so we took the opportunity to do something the Cup's keeper said had never been done: We swabbed it for germs.

We sent the samples to the Chicago lab EMSL Analytical, which found very little general bacteria and no signs of staph, salmonella or E. coli.

"It's surprisingly clean," lab manager Nancy McDonald said.

Just 400 counts of general bacteria were found, she said. By comparison, a desk in an office typically has more than 10,000.
No staph species detected?

Hmmm.

Me thinks there was a sampling error...

-Wes
at

4 comments:

  1. UnknownMon Jun 21, 01:04:00 PM CDT

    Hmmm, this strikes me as just another pathetic attempt to remind his readers that the Cup now resides in Chicago. Next thing you know Dr Wes will be writing about the cardiovascular benefits of the Stanley Cup!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Chrysalis Mon Jun 21, 01:28:00 PM CDT

    That video was too funny. Remember now, "Don't trade lunchables!" ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. DrWesMon Jun 21, 03:29:00 PM CDT

    Larry:

    Pathetic? Nah. Just reality. Now, excuse me while I get back to that post on the CV benefits of winning the Cup...

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousTue Jun 22, 10:02:00 PM CDT

    Beautiful! The stuff they study these days. :)

    ReplyDelete

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