5-Second Rule = Death? Maybe.

Do you abide by the 5-Second Rule? You know, it's the idea that if you drop food on the floor and pick it up in 5 seconds or less, it's still okay to eat it. These guys at Living the Scientific Life found first, that most people do follow the rule sometimes and that, second, all these people are now dead.

No, that's not it. They actually found that the rule has some validity depending on the food dropped and the surface it lands on. Hint: Sticky food on icky surface = bad to eat. (In other words, you should probably avoid gulping gummi worms off the bathroom floor.)

Slices of bologna and bread left for five seconds took up between 150 to 8,000 bacteria from surfaces that had been contaminated eight hours earlier. However, left for a full minute, the food slices collected about 10 times more bacteria from the tile and carpet, and a lower number from the wood surface.

(via Evangelical Outpost)