Under Your Nail

Added: 2026-05-20

[00:00:01]You washed your hands today? Good for you. I'm still here. Welcome to the subungual space, the area directly beneath your fingernail. Warm, dark, humid. [music] Basically, a five-star resort for microorganisms.

[00:00:15]Over there, that's Staphylococcus aureus. Completely normal to have here, unless it gets into a wound. Then, not so normal. And that green shimmer on the ceiling? That's Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

[00:00:30]It literally [music] turns your nail green when it colonizes. Some people think it's nail polish. It's not. And this >> [music] >> This is a biofilm, a city. Thousands of bacteria building walls, sharing resources, communicating. You can't wash this [music] off with water alone. It laughs at water. Here's what most people don't know. Scientists [music] have found up to 32 species of bacteria and 28 species of fungi living in this one [music] tiny space. One nail. And every time you touch your mouth, your eyes, your nose, you're giving all of us a free ride. We've been doing this for as long as humans have existed. You just never knew we were here. Next time, we go somewhere even weirder. And now, try not to look at your hands.