They talk about criminals caught
for money laundering. Based on a recent article I read, maybe we should pay
them to do it more.
The article was about how
scientists had taken a sample of ordinary paper money to see what was on it.
Not long ago a similar sampling had shown that it wasn't unusual to find traces
of cocaine. Cocaine is everywhere. Even the city of London recently determined
there are traces of cocaine in its water supply. No wonder England swings like
a pendulum do.
These scientists was looking for
something else: bacteria. And boy did they find it. They examined pieces of
eighty one-dollar bills from a Manhattan bank and found 1.2
billion DNA segments.
About half the DNA was human, so
you foil-hatters can rest easy about aliens handling our money supply on the
sly. Or maybe not, since 20% was unidentifiable. But researchers were able to
finger any number of nasty microbes hitchhiking on the bills. More than 3000 types
to be exact.
Bacteria linked to gastric ulcers,
pneumonia, food poisoning, and staph infections, especially
antibiotic-resistant staph. Lesson here: Don't accept cash for your change at a
pharmacy.
The most common microbes found were
those responsible for acne. Eww. Makes one wonder what teenagers are doing with
their money. I know "paper" currency is actually made of shredded
cloth, but last I checked, dollar bills didn't make good Kleenex.
The really spooky thing is the
cotton-linen blend of money's raw material seems to encourage bacterial growth
when mixed with oily human residue. Yes, bacteria were actually actively
growing on the money.
By the way. They also found
bacteria associated with fecal matter. Double-Eww. I guess they'll need a new
sign at McDonalds. “Please wash hands after paying for meal”…
America, ya gotta love it.
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