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Very Cool!

From ARS Technica:

The use of silver in medicine is as old as Western medicine itself. Hippocrates is known to have used it to treat ulcers and wounds, the Romans almost certainly knew of its healing properties, and its use continued through the middle ages and up to the present day. In the antibiotic age, interest in silver may have waned a little. But with urgent need to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria, there has been a resurgence in its use.

The reason is that silver can kill bacteria selectively, and more importantly, bacteria have been unable to develop resistance against it. Despite silver’s long medical history, we do not know how it operates.

A paper published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine sheds some light on silver’s success against bacteria. The most important finding is that silver—unlike most antibiotics—works in more than one way. This is perhaps why bacteria may find it difficult to build resistance to the chemical.

Here is silver’s multi-pronged approach: first, silver sticks very strongly to sulfur, found in parts of proteins. These sulfur groups normally bond to each other, holding proteins together and keeping the protein folded up in its correct shape. But if silver interacts with sulfur, then the protein cannot fold correctly, and thus it cannot do its job. Next, silver interferes with how bacteria use iron. Iron is often held in place within proteins by binding to sulfur. Since silver also interacts with sulfur, it blocks the iron from doing so. Finally, silver causes bacteria to produce extremely toxic substances called reactive oxygen species. These go on to cause damage inside the cell, harming the DNA, proteins, and even the membrane that surround cells.

The net result of this silver onslaught is bacteria with severe damage to their basic biochemistry. In addition, the membranes and walls that surround the bacteria are leakier after the silver treatment. This allows conventional antibiotics inside the cells; in their weakened state, the cells are much more susceptible to them. Bacteria are broadly classified into two groups, called Gram-negative and Gram-positive. Gram-negatives have an extra cell membrane that protects the bacteria, which makes it much more difficult for some antibiotics to penetrate the cell (examples include gentamicin and vancomycin). It seems that silver negates this advantage and allows even weaker drugs to do their jobs.

James Collins of Boston University, who led the research, showed that with added silver, less antibiotic drug is needed to kill the bugs. A great result in itself, but it gets better. Silver also reverses antibiotic resistance of E. Coli bacteria, making them, once more, susceptible to tetracycline.

These experiments not only worked in a Petri dish. When silver was added to standard antibiotics such as gentamicin and vancomycin, Collins could treat E. Coli infections in the bladder and abdomens of mice. Normally, these drugs have little effect on E. coli infections because they are designed to attack Gram-positive bacteria.

Finally, Collins showed that the mice themselves remain unharmed by silver. If he is able to repeat this work in humans, he may actually have a “silver bullet” for antibiotic resistance.

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Horrific

I hope I live long enough to see the Republican party completely self-emmolate.

From TPM:

I just wanted to underscore how horrific the Republicans’ abortion bill was, and how it’s sent shockwaves through my circle of friends. While I’m political, many of my friends aren’t, and they were terrified last night when they heard the 20 week ban had passed the House. They didn’t understand the process and thought it would soon become law. I had to assure them that the Democrats would stop the ban and that it’d die in the Senate.

You see, to my friends, many of whom are in their 30’s and plan on soon starting a family, this wasn’t a political ploy, it was a bill that threatened their very lives. I think most women, and probably most men too, have known someone who needed a late-term abortion due to a severe fetal defect. The thought of having this happen is bad enough, it’s an expectant mother’s worst nightmare, but then being forced against your will to carry a fetus that you know will die to term? That’s the cruelest of torture. Can you imagine going out everyday and having people excitedly asking you whether it’s a boy or a girl, when the baby’s due, etc., when the baby you’re carrying is fated to die? That’s what the Republicans want for every woman in this country, and that makes them monsters.

The Republicans are officially on record as wanting to torment and torture women (I won’t even get into the lack of a health exception for women, or the rape language…). My friends, many of whom are socially conservative, will never vote for the GOP. I just don’t think Boehner understands the long-term damage he’s doing to his party. How can you win elections when you’re on a regular basis voting against the health and well-being of 50% of the electorate?

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Shoes

I’ve never been so excited about the arrival of a pair of shoes as I am over these!

I won’t say they’re official Warehouse 13 merchandise, but I did have Vans make them to order from the color specs provided by the man himself, Eddie McClintock (woof!).

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Man of Meh

I saw Man of Steel yesterday. I know I’m going to catch a lot of flack for saying this, and based on the reviews that are pouring in it’s obvious that I’m in a decided minority, but I wasn’t thrilled.

It wasn’t one of my “must see” summer movies, but since I had the day to myself and Ben had no desire to see it I took advantage of the situation.

I started yawning about half way through. Two hours into it I began checking the time on my phone.

For me, it was one of those movies that made me wonder if it was ever going to end, and more than once I thought about just getting up and leaving.

I have no problem with each generation feeling the need to put their own cinematic mark on our cultural mythology, but what annoys me the most about this continually re-telling is that these stories (which we all collectively know by heart) are never moved forward. I mean, how many Superman/Batman/Spiderman  origin stories must we endure without ever adding to the narrative? By now everyone knows how Superman came to be on Earth; how Spiderman was bitten by a rare and/or radioactive spider, and how Batman’s deep-seated psychological issues stemming from the death of his parents led him on his path to become the caped crusader.

So why does this story have to be retold again and again? We know it. Let’s go on with something new and original. God knows the original comics provide more than enough story lines to sell tickets.

Which reminds me…aren’t we about due for another Three Musketeers reboot?

And—ducking—unlike the majority of my gay peers, Henry Cavill just doesn’t get my motor running. Sorry, guys. He’s decent enough looking (especially when bearded) and has a killer body in this film, but he’s still far from leaving-a-wet-spot-on-the-seat hot in my opinion.

Being of a certain age, there will only be one cinematic Superman for me, and that will forever be Christopher Reeve.

And lastly, maybe it’s because I’m getting old, but I’m also over all the gratuitous violence in these films. I’ve never been a fan of it, but I think Man of Steel really went over the edge and could’ve cut a full half hour of that shit and nothing would’ve been lost from the story. The time the final fight between Kal-El and General Zod occurred, I kept thinking, “Oh for Chrissake can we please wrap this up already?”

I give it a 5 out of 10. But then, I’m in a mood today.

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Uneven

Last Thursday, Ben and I treated ourselves to a date night. It had been a while since we’d done one, and was a welcome change from our usual routine. We grabbed dinner at Larkburger (the grilled portobello Amy Burger is delish!) and then went to The Landmark at Greenwood Village to see This is the End.

You know from a previous post that I find Seth Rogen un-bear-ably delicious, and his appearance in this movie did nothing to lessen that. But the movie itself? Uneven is probably the best review I can muster. I’d give it maybe a 5 out of 10. This is the End just didn’t seem to know if it wanted to be a full-on self-referential comedy or if it wanted to be taken seriously. Yeah, I loved the not-so-subtle homoerotic jokes (Danny McBride alluding to how he was regularly ass-fucking Channing Tatum—who appears in the film in a dog collar and leash, no less!) and there were several laugh-out-loud and jump out out of your seat scenes, but overall I have to say my feelings overall can be summed up thusly:

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Mercury, Bitches!

The entire surface of planet Mercury has been mapped. Detailed observations of the innermost planet’s surprising crust have been ongoing since the robotic MESSENGER spacecraft first passed Mercury in 2008 and began orbiting in 2011. Previously, much of the Mercury’s surface was unknown as it is too far for Earth-bound telescopes to see clearly. The above video is a compilation of thousands of images of Mercury rendered in exaggerated colors to better contrast different surface features. Visible are rays emanating from a northern impact that stretch across much of the planet, while about half-way through the video the light colored Caloris Basin–an ancient impact feature that filled with lava–rotates into view. MESSENGER has now successfully completed its primary and first extended missions.

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Mavericks?!?

Work thankfully wasn’t terribly busy today, so I—along with probably every other Apple-lovin’ geek on the planet who was able to—watched the live feed of Apple’s WWDC keynote today. And like everyone else who saw it, I have a few opinions that—since this is my blog and I’ll write what I damn well please—you can take or leave as you want.

OS X 10.9

Mavericks? Really? I lived in northern California—on the coast, no less—for sixteen years and never even heard of Mavericks. Apple, you couldn’t have come up with just one more cat name before moving on to OS XI? In my opinion, that was just plain stupid, considering 10.9 doesn’t appear so radically different from 10.8 that it would justify a whole new naming convention. I think you jumped the gun here, guys.

I was secretly hoping that when Craig Federighi took the stage he’d look at the crowd and say, “I know a lot of you will be disappointed, but there will be no OS X 10.9.” After the huge  sigh of disappointment from the audience died down, he’d smile,  point his clicker at the screen and say, “Say hello to OS XI!” And then unveil the most amazingly redesigned OS since X itself appeared—and only then with a new naming convention in place. That would’ve been the Apple I’ve come to know and love.

Sadly that didn’t happen. I guess we’ll will have to wait until next year.

Needless to say, I was underwhelmed by 10.9. Yeah, there are a couple new features (including much-improved power management) that I’ll undoubtedly find useful, but on the whole the presentation was a major snooze-fest.

Will I upgrade? Duh!—if only for the better power management.

Mac Pro

“Can’t innovate any more, my ass!” ~ Phil Schiller

Amazing. Beautiful. I couldn’t decide if it was plucked from the core of a crashed UFO or if it’s a Cray Mini-Me. Once again, Apple does what Apple does best and it sort of made up for Maverick. I applaud their vision. But with the overall downturn in desktop PC sales, is anyone paying attention? Will the new Pro be a smashing success? Only time will tell—as evidenced by how quickly the cheap self-destructing knock-offs appear on the market running Windoze 8.

iOS7

I love my iPhone. I love my iPad. But like many have said lately, let’s face it—the OS that runs those amazing devices is looking a little long in the tooth. While iOS7’s fresh coat of paint—while undeniably beautiful—is less than the wholesale reimaging I was expecting, but the new feature set is everything I’d hoped for. I’ll be upgrading my devices the moment it’s available.

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Every time…

…I have to unbox some cheap-ass piece of black plastic Dell crap at work, I come to appreciate Apple and its aesthetic, quality, engineering, and packaging all the more.

 

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