This is Scientific American 60 Second Science.

I'm Christopher in D'Artata.

Got a minute?

You've probably noticed that synthetic t-shirts stink more after a workout compared to cotton. But hey, it's not the fabric's fault. It's the microbes

that hang out on synthetics that create that characteristic stench. That's according to a study in the

journal Applied in Environmental Microbiology.

26 volunteers, half men, half women, worked out on spinning bikes for an hour,

and they did so outfitted with shirts of cotton, polyester, or a cotton synthetic blend.

Then researchers stuffed the sweaty shirts into plastic bags.

The next day, a train panel sniffed them, raiding their funk.

Unlucky job, because because yes the polyester shirts were

indeed more musty sour and ammonia-like than the cotton. DNA analysis revealed

that micrococcus bacteria were to blame.

They aren't actually all that common in the armpit itself, and they don't flock to cotton.

But researchers say they thrive on the open air lattice of synthetic fibers, where they sit chomping on the long chain fatty

acids in our sweat, turning them into shorter, stincier molecules.

These findings might just explain one of the most vexing questions of adolescence.

Why do stinky shirts smell so unpleasantly different from the body odor and the armpits themselves?

Could be because your favorite shirt has a microbiome of its own.

Thanks for the minute.

For Scientific Americans 60 Second Science, I'm Christopher Intagata.