Environment

This false-color image of household dust was captured with a scanning electron microscope at 115x, giving a cozy view of the allergens within—including cat hair, synthetic fibers, pollen, and even insect scales. The Centers for Disease Control says household dust is a “major source of lead”

and encourages people to mop floors and wipe surfaces with a wet rag, for health’s sake. The National Institutes of Health has also found that bacteria in dust can trigger asthma. To study the health hazards, the government sells 10-gram samples of dust to researchers for $475.