The good news about hand washing is that 96 percent of Americans do it every time they use a public bathroom. Or, that’s what 96 percent of Americans say, anyway. Such self-reported behavior is too good to be true, of course, so when researchers from the American Society for Microbiology want to know the dirty truth about human hygiene, they don’t just conduct phone interviews: they go hide in crowded bathrooms—Atlanta’s Turner Field, New York’s Grand Central Station, San Francisco’s Ferry Terminal—and surreptitiously take notes. The results aren’t so reassuring. An ... Read More
