Scient shatters five-second rule with jaw-dropping viral petri dish test: ‘It’ll be nasty’ | Trending

A Chicago scient has gone viral for putting the age-old “five-second rule” to the test and his results are enough to make anyone rethink snacking off the floor. Nicholas Aicher, a senior quality control analyst, conducted a petri dish experiment to scientifically assess how quickly bacteria transfer to food dropped on the ground, reported the New York Post. Aicher pointed out that even zero seconds might be too long,(Pexel) Also read: US Senator brings his bulldog to meeting, gives her mic for testimony: ‘She humanises us’ “I thought it would be fun for people to know all the little nastiness that we don’t think about every day,” Aicher told Jam Press. On his TikTok channel, where he’s gathered nearly 450,000 followers, Aicher is known for testing the cleanliness of everyday surfaces, including toothbrushes, gas pump handles, and even a dog’s mouth. For this particular test, he placed petri dishes on the floor for different time intervals — from zero seconds up to one minute. After incubating the dishes, the results revealed that every single sample had visible microbial growth. How long is too long?“Looks like even 0 seconds is too long,” Aicher said, showing a dish speckled with white bacterial spots. Also read: Arrested for public intoxication, Indian on H1B visa asks for help: ‘My extension is coming up’ Surprisingly, the dish exposed for five seconds looked nearly identical to the one left for a full minute, challenging the popular belief that a brief floor encounter is harmless. The 10-second sample had slightly more bacteria, while those left for 20 and 30 seconds showed significantly higher levels of growth. “Whether the food is left for five seconds or 60, it’ll be nasty either way,” the researcher concluded. The experiment sparked mixed reactions online. “Never eating food from the floor again,” one viewer wrote. Another lamented, “Nooooo I LIVE the 5-second rule!” A third joked that the germs added “extra flavour.” Still, not everyone was convinced. “I’ll pretend I didn’t see this so I can keep blissfully doing the 5-second rule,” one fan insed. Another viewer argued, “The real factor is just how badly you don’t want to waste what was dropped.” A few sceptics also questioned the validity of the experiment, pointing out the absence of a proper control sample. “Meh. I was doing the 5-second rule throughout my childhood and I’m still healthy,” one commenter shrugged.