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Scientists dig up a new weapon against antibiotic-resistant bacteria

by Leonore6263 Posted on January 12, 2015

Soil Money

Scientists dig up a new weapon against antibiotic-resistant bacteria

By on 12 Jan 2015commentsShare

Kids, forget everything your pre-school teachers told you: Go play in the dirt all you like!

This month, scientists — after much hand-wringing and years of expensive drug development — plucked a promising new antibiotic from the ground. Not only is new-kid-on-the-block Teixobactin another tool to fight infections, it could be the first of an entire class of antibiotics that could save us from drug-resistant superbugs.

The researchers, who published their results in Nature last Wednesday, found the bacteria by isolating and domesticating 10,000 strains of microbes found in the soil. Teixobactin — which, like so many good things, apparently comes from “a grassy field in Maine” — was the most promising of the bunch. It managed to clear up a deadly MRSA infection in mice, and did so in such a way that the bacteria showed no signs of developing resistance.

In fact, this is not all new news. It turns out that most of the antibiotics we use today were cultivated from strains found in dirt — but this new technique uses the natural environment of the soil to grow bacteria that cannot be cultivated in a traditional lab culture. It could turn up hundreds of new compounds that could fight infections, even cancer, according to researchers.

Don’t get too excited: Though the new drug was a hit with the mice, it is still probably two years away from human trials, which will take another couple of years. It’s possible that the superdrug will have unforeseen consequences that make it dangerous to people as well as microbes. And some other scientists are skeptical about the claims that diseases will never develop resistance to Teixobactin and family: “The way bacteria multiply, if there weren’t natural mechanisms to limit their growth, they would have covered the planet and eaten us all eons ago,” infectious disease researcher William Schaffner told the New York Times.

I’m being told that hasn’t happened, so I guess we’ll have to wait to see just how wonderful this wonder drug really is, or what others are still hiding in the mud.

Source:
New Antibiotic Stirs Hope Against Resistant Bacteria

, New York Times.

Antibiotics: US discovery labelled ‘game-changer’ for medicine

, BBC.

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Scientists dig up a new weapon against antibiotic-resistant bacteria

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This Judge Just Destroyed the Stupidest Argument Against Gay Marriage Ever

by VirgilioWjd Posted on July 1, 2014

Mother Jones

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On Tuesday, a federal judge ruled Kentucky’s ban on same-sex marriages unconstitutional and issued a withering take-down of marriage equality opponents.

Kentucky had argued that legalizing gay marriage would harm the state’s birth rate. “These arguments are not those of serious people,” wrote US district judge John Heyburn. “Though it seems almost unnecessary to explain, here are the reasons why.

“Even assuming the state has a legitimate interest in promoting procreation, the Court fails to see, and Defendant never explains, how the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage has any effect whatsoever on procreation among heterosexual spouses. Excluding same-sex couples from marriage does not change the number of heterosexual couples who choose to get married, the number who choose to have children, or the number of children they have.

“The state’s attempts to connect the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage to its interest in economic stability and in ‘ensuring humanity’s continued existence’ are at best illogical and even bewildering…The Court can think of no other conceivable legitimate reason for Kentucky’s laws excluding same-sex couples from marriage.”

Heyburn stayed his ruling while Kentucky appeals, meaning no same-sex marriages are taking place just yet.

Read the full ruling:

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A Federal Judge Just Struck Down Kentucky’s Gay Marriage Ban (PDF)

A Federal Judge Just Struck Down Kentucky’s Gay Marriage Ban (Text)

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This Judge Just Destroyed the Stupidest Argument Against Gay Marriage Ever

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Air apparent: Once we start geoengineering, it may be hard to stop

by bukaroso Posted on December 4, 2013

Air apparent: Once we start geoengineering, it may be hard to stop

By

NASA Goddard

Despite the antics of technofixers, policy wonks, and mad billionaires everywhere, geoengineering persists as an appealing-if-wacky solution to all our climate ills. The basic logic is seductive: If we’ve messed up the climate by pumping bad stuff into the atmosphere, maybe we can undo some damage by pumping some other stuff up there, too. Of course, a minefield of potential blunders awaits the intrepid geoengineer, including wreaking havoc on rainfall or depleting polar ozone. And then there is the geopolitical factor, i.e. what may be good for China is not so good for India.

A recent study [PDF] by scientists from North America, Europe, and Japan suggests another, more distant concern, and yet a vital one: What happens when we stop geoengineering?

One of the big mainstays of geoengineering is the idea of solar radiation management, the deflection of some of the sun’s energy before it enters the atmosphere. For example, there is often a measurable temperature decrease in the months following large volcanic eruptions, thanks to a massive belch of sulfur dioxide and reflective particulate matter. Would-be earth hackers suggest copying this effect with artificial aerosols, minus the magma and, ideally, the acid rain. (As if building a giant, friendly, fake volcano in our atmosphere totally doesn’t require the international cooperation, technological innovation, scientific know-how, and hard problem-solving other climate solutions demand.)

Though much is still unknown about the potential effects of intentionally saturating our atmosphere with sulfates, the authors of the recent paper thought maybe it’d be a good idea to look before we leap into the caldera of the fake-volcano business. Using several different atmospheric models, they studied what would happen if 50 years of stratospheric solar deflection were followed by an abrupt halt. The result, reported in the Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres, could be a rapid and devastating increase in temperature.

Here’s why: If we were to start and then stop maintaining a protective layer of aerosols in the atmosphere, solar radiation would begin hitting us right where it left off — and the effect of the greenhouse gasses accumulated during our half-century in the synthetic shade would quickly become apparent. (The paper warns of the “moral hazard” of geoengineering, letting us off the hook for the dirty emissions at the root of the problem.) Though the different climate models used by the researchers showed different rates of increase, the overall effect was squarely in the “not good” category, including shifts in weather patterns and the usual, depressing decrease in polar sea ice. Basically, if we ever try to rely on geoengineering to save us from our own greenhouse gas emissions, we are all going to have to agree to NEVER STOP.

That means, no political squabbles, no international kerfuffles, no unforeseen consequences, no budget problems, nothing. Good luck with that, world.

Amelia Urry is Grist’s intern.Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Business & Technology

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Air apparent: Once we start geoengineering, it may be hard to stop

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Oregon activists push for food instead of grass from farmers

by BrendanMauger Posted on November 12, 2013

green4us

Codex: Adepta Sororitas – Games Workshop

The Adepta Sororitas, also known as the Sisters of Battle, are an elite sisterhood of warriors raised from infancy to adore the Emperor of Mankind. Their fanatical devotion and unwavering purity is a bulwark against corruption, heresy and alien attack, and once battle has been joined they will stop at nothing until their enemies are utterly crushed In this b […]

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Codex: Inquisition – Games Workshop

The Inquisition is the most powerful organisation within the Imperium. Bound by no Imperial law or authority, its agents – Inquisitors – operate in a highly secretive manner and answer only to themselves. Inquisitors use whatever means are necessary in order to safeguard the Imperium from heretics, mutants and aliens. It is not without good reason that Inqui […]

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Itty-Bitty Hats – Susan B. Anderson

Beautifully rendered, heartbreakingly adorable, and wonderfully wacky knitted caps for newborns and toddlers Thirty-eight million Americans knit, and that number grows every day. The baby hat is the perfect project for knitters of any level, with enchanting patterns that are easy enough for rank beginners but also interesting enough for the most accomplished […]

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Index Chaotica: Plague Marines – Games Workshop

Plague Marines are Chaos Space Marines who have pledged their allegiance to Nurgle. Though some go to war as part of the Death Guard Legion, others fight as separate warbands. All Plague Marines are are blighted by decay, and their armour and weapons are corrupted by foul diseases. About This Series: Though the Chaos Space Marines were once heroic defenders […]

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Codex: Inquisition (eBook Edition) – Games Workshop

The Inquisition is the most powerful organisation within the Imperium. Bound by no Imperial law or authority, its agents – Inquisitors – operate in a highly secretive manner and answer only to themselves. Inquisitors use whatever means are necessary in order to safeguard the Imperium from heretics, mutants and aliens. It is not without good reason that Inqui […]

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Cesar’s Way – Cesar Millan & Melissa Jo Peltier

“I rehabilitate dogs. I train people.” —Cesar Millan There are at least 68 million dogs in America, and their owners lavish billions of dollars on them every year. So why do so many pampered pets have problems? In this definitive and accessible guide, Cesar Millan—star of National Geographic Channel’s hit show Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan —reveals what do […]

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The Art of Raising a Puppy (Revised Edition) – Monks of New Skete

For more than thirty years the Monks of New Skete have been among America’s most trusted authorities on dog training, canine behavior, and the animal/human bond. In their two now-classic bestsellers, How to be Your Dog’s Best Friend and The Art of Raising a Puppy, the Monks draw on their experience as long-time breeders of German shepherds and as t […]

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Topsy-Turvy Inside-Out Knit Toys – Susan B. Anderson

Susan B. Anderson’s fifth book–her most enchanting yet–turns the spotlight on “reversibles”: knitted projects that are two toys in one. This collection of a dozen delightful toys features a dog in a doghouse, a chrysalis with a fluttery surprise inside, a tiny hidden fairy, a vintage toy with a fabled theme to boot, pigs in a blanket, and mu […]

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Inside of a Dog – Alexandra Horowitz

The bestselling book that asks what dogs know and how they think, now in paperback. The answers will surprise and delight you as Alexandra Horowitz, a cognitive scientist, explains how dogs perceive their daily worlds, each other, and that other quirky animal, the human. Horowitz introduces the reader to dogs’ perceptual and cognitive abilities and then draw […]

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Index Chaotica: Noise Marines – Games Workshop

Noise Marines are Chaos Space Marines dedicated to the Chaos God Slaanesh. They are Slaanesh’s foot soldiers, and are infamous for using devastating sonic weaponry as part of their frenzied assaults. About This Series: Though the Chaos Space Marines were once heroic defenders of Mankind, each has sold his allegiance to the Dark Gods in return for surre […]

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Oregon activists push for food instead of grass from farmers

Posted in alo, Bunn, Citadel, eco-friendly, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, Monterey, ONA, Oster, Pines, PUR, solar, solar power, Uncategorized, Vintage | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Oregon activists push for food instead of grass from farmers