tswizzlestwin-blog

[tswizzlestwin-blog]

In the death of her reputation, she felt truly alive

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And my life has been made

RT @NeilTyson: I’ve got the only photo of Bill Nye @TheScienceGuy, this sector of the Universe, without his bow tie

[tswizzlestwin-blog]

‘Predatory Bacteria’ Might Be Enlisted In Defense Against Antibiotic Resistance

by Richard Harris / NPR Heatlh 

Here’s a bold idea to fight back against bacteria that can’t be stopped by antibiotics: Go after them with germ-eating microbes. That reasoning lies behind an intriguing line of research that might also be put to use in the event of a germ-warfare attack.

It might seem strange to think of microbe-eating microbes, but “actually they’re found in almost every ecosystem on Earth,” says Brad Ringeisen, deputy director of the Biological Technologies Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

They’re even living inside us, but at levels so low that they aren’t effectively battling back against dangerous germs. DARPA has been funding research to see if these predatory bacteria can be harnessed as our allies.

“It’s been very exciting,” Ringeisen says, as this exploratory phase of research is gradually coming to a successful conclusion.

Lab studies that his agency has funded show that the predatory bacteria will attack all sorts of nasties, including bacterial lung infections, the plague and deadly germs that have developed resistance to antibiotics. And the star of this show is an organism called Bdellovibrio, a bacterium that swims around with the aid of a corkscrew tail, and attacks common germs six times its size.

Read the entire article

Image above © Alfred Pasieka / Science Source

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A white kiwi. Hundreds of spectators awaited a glimpse of the rare white kiwi at New Zealand’s Pukaha sanctuary. The bird is held sacred by the country’s indigenous Maori people. Photograph: Mike Heydon/AFP/Getty Images

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I WAS THERE 😭😍

Taking in every second of this tour- thank you New Orleans for being so incredible last night. My first time playing the Superdome and couldn’t be happier that I got to play it with Camila and @charlixcx - plus some purrfect friends came to see the show. 💗💗💗💗💗

[tswizzlestwin-blog]

Story time. I love Taylor. I was convinced I would never get to see her in concert. My boyfriend of 11 years informed me a month or so ago we were going on a surprise trip. Saturday comes and we are on the road while I try to figure out where we are going. I finally see a sign to NoLa, and he let’s me know I have guessed correctly. We go eat dinner then start walking around where we see some coworkers. Our administrator, Pete, asks me if I can do him a favor then goes on to ask me if I would take a concert ticket that he didn’t want to use. From then on I don’t remember the conversation, because I have just found out I am seeing Taylor in concert. Best surprise ever. I cried, I screamed, I sang, and I danced my heart out. She was more than I could have ever imagined.