Testing "the 5-second rule"

As a person who often drops things, I view this as unmitigated good news. Turns out there might be something to the old "5 second rule" about dropped food. It's almost scientific and stuff, too:

Hartford Courant: Five Second Rule? Relax

And here, I've always thought it was just a humorous fiction we use as a polite cover for eating fumbled food in front of others.