Five second rule! *much*

Ah, a common call in a college dorm, and pretty much everywhere else. Well, now someone's gone and got all scientific about it:

High-school student Jillian Clarke investigated the scientific validity of the "5-second rule" during her apprenticeship in Hans Blaschek's University of Illinois lab this summer. You know the rule: If food falls to the floor and it's in contact with the floor for fewer than 5 seconds, it's safe to pick it up and eat it.

At my house there is no five second rule. Cat hair will stick to teflon in .010 seconds flat. There's nothing quite as appetizing as picking up a piece of bread off the floor with identifiable hair from five different cats all over it. Or discovering the next day that yes, cat hair actually can pass through the human digestive system (i.e., yours) intact.