Two Neurons Sensing Each Other And Trying To Connect

Silver nanoparticles show promise in fighting antibiotic-resistant bacteria

New research investigated whether silver nanoparticles could amplify the effects of antibiotics on antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

In a new study, scientists with the University of Florida have found that a combination of silver nanoparticles and antibiotics is effective against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

The researchers hope to turn this discovery into viable treatment for some types of antibiotic-resistant infections. Antibiotic-resistant infections kill more than a million people globally each year.

For centuries, silver has been known to have antimicrobial properties. However, silver nanoparticles—microscopic spheres of silver small enough to operate at the cellular level—represent a new frontier in using the precious metal to fight bacteria.

In this study, the research team tested whether commercially available silver nanoparticles boost the power of antibiotics and enable these drugs to counter the very bacteria that have evolved to withstand them.

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Hey... what the fuck???

So I read the article, and this is super cool. Basically what happened is that they let a drop of butyl alcohol out from a syringe onto the surface of another liquid, and it just... hung out there? For a very significant amount of time, too. In the past, this type of "droplet levitation" has only lasted a few milliseconds max, but this droplet was staying levitated without any external forces applied for tens of minutes.

The reason this happens is because of Solutocapilllary convection, which as far as I can tell essentially boosts the surface tension of that one spot in the underlying liquid using vapor molecules, so that the butyl alcohol molecule can't sink in.

Also, the reason why I specified that the reason this was cool is because it was done without external forces is that APPARENTLY we've been able to levitate things using sound waves since like... the 1930s. And it makes sense that you can do that, in principle, but it still looks absolutely wild to see.

Reblog and write the opposite of your URL

thatwasnotveryravenofyou → itisextremelypigeonofthem

a photo of a rhondrophyta tetrasporophyte under a microscope from my botany class <3

Dear scientists,

Please, for the love of God, please, make your papers more understandable.

Fuck you

Sincerely,

A college student on the verge of tears

Fun fact: my dad, after being a surgeon for 25 years, no longer has fingerprints. The sponge he uses to wash his hands several times a day is so harsh that it’s rubbed off his fingerprints throughout the years. Sometimes he can’t get into our building because the biometric uses a fingerprint scanner 😭

‘Ghost fleas’ bring toxic mercury up from the depths of prairie lakes

How toxic mercury moves through the environment—and accumulates in the fish that people eat—has been known for decades. Now, scientists have discovered an unexpected way that the neurotoxin circulates in lakes, hitching a late-night ride inside small predatory crustaceans dubbed “ghost fleas.” The finding helps explain why some lake fish contain surprising amounts of mercury. It also suggests researchers who sample lakes only during the day might be missing important clues to how those ecosystems work.

Study discovers that mitochondria transmit signals in the immune and nervous systems

The new study has revealed that mitochondria play a crucial role in the regulation of the NF-κB signaling pathway.

Mitochondria are primarily known as the powerhouse of the cell. However, these cellular organelles are required not only for providing energy: Professor Konstanze Winklhofer and her group at the Faculty of Medicine at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, recently discovered that mitochondria play an important role in signal transduction in innate immune pathways.

They regulate a signaling pathway that helps to eliminate pathogens, but can cause damage through inflammation upon overactivation. The research team published their findings in the EMBO Journal.

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