Growing Belly Button Bacteria, for Science!

The above picture shows belly button bacteria growing in petri dishes, harvested from scientists, journalists and bloggers attending the ScienceOnline 2011 Conference. One may wonder why this is a thing, and the answer–as it usually is–is because of science, of course. The growing bacteria are part of the Belly Button Biodiversity project, which is also a thing, headed by North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, and is part of a larger project with the goal of teaching humans the kinds of things that live in and on us. To gross us out. But, you know, for science.

(via Boing Boing)