“Very Few People Wash Their Belly Buttons With Soap”

… Is one of the reasons the Belly Button Biodiversity (BBB) project, which investigates the tiny things that live on and inside us, is called what it’s called. Here’s how it works:

To get a sample, researchers hand each subject a sterile long cotton swab. You’re asked to turn it around in your navel three times and place the swab in a vial. Scientists grow the bacteria in a culture and once they become “big and chunky enough” they’re photographed. Participants are given a sample number to view their bacteria online.

Or you can just view the bacteria growing in the BBB team’s own belly buttons (above). They don’t explain what the bacteria is or how to interpret it, so I’ll just say nice work, Katherine, on growing yours into a shape. Plus, a fun fact about belly buttons is that the “ideal female belly button” is apparently “small and t-shaped.” The ideal male belly button, on the other hand, is a little older and has lots of money!