So 18 months after we released the free, print-at-home version of Gut Check: The Microbiome game we finally have a commercial version! The game is available from MOBIO Laboratories here, for the very reasonable price of $20 with free shipping. For a really nice write-up about the game, check out this blog post from Anne …
So I feel like this shouldn’t need to be said… but clearly it does. Don’t kiss chickens or bring them into your bedroom. Should my opinion not carry enough weight, simply check out this new report from the CDC “Outbreaks of Human Salmonella Infections Associated with Live Poultry, United States, 1990—2014”. Abstract below. Major highlights …
In parallel to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation offer of two postdoctoral fellowships to study the microbiology of the ISS, NASA is also issuing a pair of postdoc fellowships on their end. The collaboration between Sloan and NASA is great to see, since there is significant overlap between their interests in this field. I’m really …
This is so awesome. The Sloan Program in Microbiology of the Built Environment is offering a pair of postdoc fellowships to work on the microbiology of the International Space Station. Summary of the call is below, the compete information packet can be downloaded here. And if that’s not cool enough, the next blog post is …
Paula Olsiewski just pointed us to this upcoming webinar and discussion hosted by Brent Stephens. This presumably relates closely to his article on the same topic which is a must-read. What Have We Learned about the Microbiomes of Indoor Environments? Presented by: Brent Stephens, PhD, Associate Professor of Architectural Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology Date and …
(posted on behalf of Jordan Peccia) Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Workshop on Viruses to be Held in Singapore, January 2017 The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has approved a grant to host a two-day workshop in Singapore on the topic of infectious viral disease in the built environment. Objectives of the workshop include identifying the key …
Just a short post about a news story recently where they have traced Pseudomonas found in NICU infants to the pipes in the building. It’s still in the early stages of the investigation… but it makes me wonder why routine surveillance isn’t more common. I feel like we often hear stories about finding Legionella, Pseudomonas, …
Just a quick post about the fact that researchers from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are sending radiation resistant (even radiation-loving) fungi for some experiments on the International Space Station (ISS). They are looking for changes that occur in microgravity after growth for 14 days on the ISS with respect to ground control strains. Very …
So both Hal Levin and I have posted and/or commented on the topic of plants “cleaning” the air in buildings. Most of what’s out there is either anecdotal or based on an old NASA study that would require hundreds of plants in a home to make any appreciable difference. Here’s a couple microBEnet posts on …
This last winter, Gwynne Mhuireach at the University of Oregon taught a really interesting course entitled “Human Health and the Design of the Urban Microbiome”. She posted a description of the final “design charrette” here on microBEnet awhile back. I just asked her if she’d be willing to share her course materials for others interested …