News article:

These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| Have you ever been on the subway and seen something that you did not quite recognize, something mysteriously unidentifiable? 
  
 Well, there is a good chance scientists do not know what it is either. 
  
 Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College released a study on Thursday that mapped DNA found in New York’s subway system — a crowded, largely subterranean behemoth that carries 5.5 million riders on an average weekday, and is filled with hundreds of species of bacteria (mostly harmless), the occasional spot of bubonic plague, and a universe of enigmas. Almost half of the DNA found on the system’s surfaces did not match any known organism and just 0.2 percent matched the human genome. 
  
 “People don’t look at a subway pole and think, ‘It’s teeming with life,’ ” said Dr. Christopher E. Mason, a geneticist at Weill Cornell Medical College and the lead author of the study. “After this study, they may. But I want them to think of it the same way you’d look at a rain forest, and be almost in awe and wonder, effectively, that there are all these species present — and that you’ve been healthy all along.” 
  
 Dr. Mason said the inspiration for the study struck about four years ago when he was dropping off his daughter at day care. He watched her explore her new surroundings by happily popping objects into her mouth. As is the custom among tiny children, friendships were made on the floor, by passing back and forth toys that made their way from one mouth to the next. |||||  
  
 Broadway-Lafayette Station in New York City. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images) 
  
 Forget rats, trash and “manspreading” — the true scourges of New York’s subway system are too small to be seen with the naked eye. 
  
 A DNA examination of the city’s 466 stations revealed the transit system harbors at least 67 types of disease-causing bacteria, bubonic plague and anthrax among them. Evidence of the plague was found in three stations, while anthrax was identified on a railing and in a subway car; researchers said neither posed a threat to subway riders. 
  
 Far more common was genetic material from multi-drug resistant bacteria, such as those that cause hospital infections, which was uncovered in more than 400 stations. Other unsavory findings include the DNA of bacteria that cause food poisoning (identified in 215 stations), urinary tract infections (192 stations), meningitis and sepsis (66 stations) and staph infections (37 stations). 
  
 A rat on the Times Square subway platform. (Richard Drew/AP) 
  
 First reported in the Wall Street Journal, the survey also turned up DNA from over 15,000 more benign organisms, evidence of the system’s diverse ridership, animal, microbial and human. Researchers for the PathoMap project at the Weill Cornell Medical College painstakingly swabbed down turnstiles, benches, railings and ticket kiosks, uncovering microscopic traces of fish, rats, mice and lice. (The cockroach genome has not yet been mapped — otherwise it probably would have turned up as well.) In addition to plague and streptococcus, they also found nearly 500 types of more pleasant bacteria, including organisms that digest toxic waste such as oil and sulfates, making the city more livable. 
  
 The human DNA samples they discovered were also telling: Analyzed for racial markers, they painted a picture of the city’s demographics that mirrors census data. 
  
 The survey even offered DNA clues into what New Yorkers are eating — mozzarella and sausage from take-out pizza, chickpeas, kimchi, sauerkraut. Weirdly, cucumber DNA was the third-most prevalent found from more complex organisms — right after that of beetles and flies, hopefully not leftovers from riders’ meals. 
  
 In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, lead author Christopher E. Mason called the project “a mirror of the people themselves who ride the subway.” 
  
 All those bacteria they found? They’re part of the reflection, too. Irrespective of hand sanitizer or frequent bathing, every human body is host to trillions of single-celled organisms not quite our own. In fact, microbial cells outnumber “human” cells 10 to one. 
  
 “You are a minority party in the democracy of the body,” Mason said. 
  
  
  
 Commuters on an L train in New York in 2014. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters) 
  
 The PathoMap results are a reflection of the messy, bacteria-infested being that is the average human. But they’re also evidence that a city is more than steel and concrete — it’s an ecosystem. 
  
 In in a report published Thursday, researchers said their findings form a “metagenomic map” of New York — the equivalent of a guide to the city’s DNA. This data will be vital for scientists seeking to understand how a built environment like a transit system impacts public health. 
  
 “Unintentionally, architects and engineers are creating ecosystems without much thought at all as to whether they are healthy or harmful to humans,” biologist Jessica Green, director of the University of Oregon’s Biology and the Built Environment Center, told the Wall Street Journal. 
  
 Green and other researchers see potential for metagenomic maps like Mason’s to help cities track disease, thwart bioterrorism and monitor changes in the urban ecoystem. 
  
 For Mason, the map is also a reminder that even an object as industrial as a subway car is teeming with life — and it’s not a bad thing. 
  
 “I want [people] to think of it the same way you’d look at a rain forest,” lead author Christopher E. Mason told the New York Times. “Be almost in awe and wonder, effectively, that there are all these species present — and that you’ve been healthy all along.” 
  
 More health stories from Morning Mix: 
  
 Obama to parents doubting ‘indisputable’ science: ‘Get your kids vaccinated’ 
  
 Even the pirate Blackbeard offered an employee health-care plan 
  
 GNC, Target, Wal-Mart, Walgreens accused of selling adulterated ‘herbals’ |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?
– Like riding the subway in New York? You're not alone: so do countless bacteria including bubonic plague, anthrax, and E. coli, the Wall Street Journal reports. A new study maps out the subway system's DNA, revealing an underground world packed with microbial diversity. "People don’t look at a subway pole and think, 'It’s teeming with life,'" the study's lead author tells the New York Times. "After this study, they may." But he cautions that most discoveries are quite harmless. Actually, nearly half of DNA found in the 17-month study match no known organism—hardly a surprise, considering that only a few thousand genomes have been mapped so far. And just 0.2% of found microbes come from human DNA. Among other findings: The study shows what New York subway riders are eating, including takeout pizza, chickpeas and kimchi. Weirdly, cucumber DNA "was the third-most prevalent found from more complex organisms," reports the Washington Post. Antibiotic-resistant microbes turned up in 27% of samples, but overall only 12% of found bacteria can be linked to disease. Three stations had "traces of the bacteria that cause bubonic plague," likely caused by rats, says the Journal. But there hasn't been a plague case in New York City for 12 years, the CDC notes. E. coli showed up in 56 stations and bacteria linked to food poisoning in 215 stations. Again, researchers note that these findings don't mean New Yorkers are at risk. And the city's health department seems to agree, saying it "strongly" disputes the "flawed" study.