Hot take: I just learned from a library book that a single teaspoon of soil has more living things than people on Earth.

I was reading an old biology textbook from the 90s in the local library last Tuesday. It said a teaspoon of healthy garden dirt can contain up to 7 billion bacteria. That's more than the entire human population. It made me think about how we walk on this whole hidden world. Does anyone else find facts like this totally mind-blowing?

4 comments

4 Comments

mason_flores211mo ago

Totally. The "hidden world" thing reminds me of a time I found an ant hill in my yard. I poured some sugar water nearby just to watch. Within an hour it was like a whole highway of ants. They had scouts, workers, the whole deal. Made me feel like I was spying on a secret city.

oliver_fisher1mo ago

Wait, so @nancy820, a teaspoon of dirt has more bacteria than people on Earth?

the_kevin1mo agoMost Upvoted

Yeah, it's crazy how much we miss right under our feet. Makes you look at a walk in the park totally different, you know?

nancy8201mo ago

That fact about the bacteria is wild. Makes you wonder what else is down there besides just bacteria, right? Like what else is in that teaspoon.