Unpleasant as the samples might be, water from sewers provides important information about the people who excrete it. Participating in the first formal effort by scientists and public health officials to take a sewage snapshot of the Cambridge population, Professor Eric Alm’s lab analyzes sewer contents for viruses and bacteria. “Sewage is really an unexploited source of rich information about human activities,” he says. Knowing what goes in and comes out of people should lead to better data around issues such as diet and wellness. Read the Boston Globe story.