By looking at the DNA and RNA in samples from 14 used sponges that may be as dirty as the one sitting in your sink right now, Markus Egert, a microbiologist at the University of Furtwangen in Germany, and his team identified 362 different species of bacteria living within them. And the scientists were surprised to find how densely the microbes occupied such close quarters: About 82 billion bacteria were living in just a cubic inch of space.

Source: New York Times January 13, 2023 09:04 UTC