There are way more bugs in your home than you think
In a new study out Tuesday, researchers systematically examined 50 homes in Raleigh, North Carolina, and found something you definitely don't want to hear: Each dwelling had between 32 and 211 species of bugs.
"I hope this doesn't put fear in people's minds that they're being overrun or that they live in unclean homes," Matthew Bertone, the North Carolina State University lead study author, told The Atlantic. "People have been living with these animals for centuries. This is just something that is."
Even if you're disturbed by the findings, you've got to appreciate the work Bertone and his colleagues put into gathering the data:
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Room to room, floor to ceiling, under shelves and behind knick-knacks, they grabbed every arthropod they could find using nothing more advanced than headlamps, forceps, nets, and aspirators for sucking up fast-moving ones. "And kneepads," says Bertone. “Those were the best pieces of research equipment we invested in." [The Atlantic]
If nothing else, take comfort in the fact that most of the bugs found weren't pests.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
-
‘No one is exempt from responsibility, and especially not elite sport circuits’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Businesses are caught in the middle of ICE activitiesIn the Spotlight Many companies are being forced to choose a side in the ICE debate
-
Leadership: A conspicuous silence from CEOsFeature CEOs were more vocal during Trump’s first term
-
EU and India clinch trade pact amid US tariff warSpeed Read The agreement will slash tariffs on most goods over the next decade
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
Maduro pleads not guilty in first US court hearingSpeed Read Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty to cocaine trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracy
