Researchers writing in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy have found a chemical compound that, when used in conjunction with conventional antibiotics, effectively destroys biofilms produced by antibiotic-resistant strains of the Staphylococcus strain MRSA and Acinetobacter. The compound also re-sentsitizes those bacteria to antibiotics.
Infections from antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as MRSA are especially difficult to get rid of because the bacteria can attach to surfaces and then create biofilms, sticky layers of cells that act as a shield and prevent antibiotics from destroying the bacteria underneath.
Science, outside some in the climate community (*), is anti-authoritarian. There is no voting to create a consensus in science, no appeals to authority - science is vulnerable every single day of the year, to experiments, to revisions and to complete debunking by new generations of scientists who, like gun-slingers in the Old West, want to make their name taking down the big guys.
Great thinkers like Einstein and Aristotle have been slain by the scientific method so it can happen to anyone - and that power is what made freedom possible, according to Timothy Ferris, emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley, former editor of Rolling Stone magazine, and book author.
Chloracne is a skin condition caused by over-exposure to certain toxic chemicals that looks like common forms of acne that affect teenagers.
First reported in German industrial workers in 1897, at present chloracne is the only well established long-term effect of exposure to TCDD or dioxin, the contaminant found in one of the ingredients of Agent Orange.
At Seveso Italy, from a reactor to the production of hexachlorophene, a product relatively harmless used by industry, cosmetics, it would be escaping, because of an accident, dioxin, a chemical highly toxic and carcinogenic.
I have been an educator for more than 20 years, and I have been an individual with Asperger syndrome for my entire life. I wasn't always aware of my autism, and more specifically, I wasn't self-aware as an autistic person. This is because I was diagnosed only six years ago, at the age of 40. Deciding to go through with the evaluation and then finding myself labeled with Asperger syndrome was a life-altering event.
Three new species of anaerobic multicellular organisms have been discovered deep under the Mediterranean Sea. The small animals, new members of the group Loricifera, live their entire lives without oxygen and surrounded by 'poisonous' sulphides.
Researchers writing in BMC Biology report the existence of multicellular organisms, showing that they are alive, metabolically active, and apparently reproducing in spite of a complete absence of oxygen. Sediment samples from a deep hypersaline anoxic basin (DHABs) of the Mediterranean Sea revealed evidence for the new organisms' existence.
Between hooking up and traditional dating, more women than men prefer dating whereas more men rate hooking up above dating, according to a new survey of college students at a midsized southeastern university.
Both genders, however, perceive similar benefits and risks to dating and hooking up. Women fear, both in dating and hooking up, that they will become emotionally attached to a partner who is not interested in them. Men more than women seem to value independence. They fear that even in hooking up relationships, which are supposed to be free of commitments, a woman might seek to establish a relationship.
Using the CRIRES instrument on ESOs Very Large Telescope, a team of astronomers have confirmed that summer is in full swing in the southern hemisphere of Neptune's largest moon Triton.
"We have found real evidence that the Sun still makes its presence felt on Triton, even from so far away. This icy moon actually has seasons just as we do on Earth, but they change far more slowly," says Emmanuel Lellouch, the lead author of the paper reporting these results in Astronomy&Astrophysics.
There is ongoing concern about the potential toxicity of nanoparticles of various materials, and a new study in Chemical Research in Toxicology reports that certain sunscreens that contain zinc oxide nanoparticles may be toxic if ingested.
The research found that particle size affects the toxicity of zinc oxide. Particles smaller than 100 nanometers were slightly more toxic to colon cells than conventional zinc oxide and solid zinc oxide was more toxic than equivalent amounts of soluble zinc. Direct particle to cell contact was required to cause cell death, according to the study.
Astronomers have directly observed the mysterious dark companion in the Epsilon Aurigae star system that has puzzled skywatchers since the 19th century.
Scientists captured close-up pictures of Epsilon Aurigae during its eclipse, which happens every 27 years. "Close up" in this case is a relative term, but the images zoom in enough to show the shape of the dark object's shadow. A new paper in Nature describes the images in detail.
In the midst of ordering PCB boards for my satellite, I read about a neat UK
"CubeSail" satellite. It's a sweeper for space, to clear out all the space junk that we're cluttering low earth orbit with. It's basically a solar sail in reverse-- instead of propulsion, you use it to capture junk.
Now, this isn't needed for Project Calliope. We will responsibly biodegrade in the most natural way possible-- flaming burn-up as our orbit decays into the atmosphere. So we're tidy (and firey!)
