It is this type of thing that inspires me that a better understanding of microbes in the built environment could be of immense value in many areas: A Trip To The Living City Of The Future | Co.Exist: World changing ideas and innovation. Certainly, we need to do a lot of research into making buildings more …
Just a quick one here. The Home Microbiome Project from Argonne National Lab is featured on the home page of Discover Magazine: Science and Technology News, Science Articles | Discover Magazine. This is part of a feature Discover has linking to SciStarter – a site about citizen science.
Not about microbes but there is an interesting article at Smartplanet on office environments: Office work increases toxicity in bloodstreams? | SmartPlanet. It would be interesting to see whether these people have altered microbial communities in conjunction with increased toxins.
There has been a nasty min epidemic at a hospital in Belfast: Bacteria in baby unit traced to sink taps – The Irish Times – Wed, Jan 25, 2012. It appears to have been traced to a water tap. Just a mini reminder that we need to learn more about the biogeography of microbes in …
UPDATED AGAIN: For those funded by the Sloan Foundation Program in Microbiology of the Built Environment there will be a workshop for all grantees in Boulder May 31 and June 1. Apologies for the earlier incorrect posting with dates of May 24-25. The perils of blogging while hosting a meeting … I posted before the dates …
Well, Legionnaires disease is not pleasant by any stretch of the imagination. And this latest report is certainly a bit disturbing: Hospitals water wall source of Legionnaires Disease – Health – CBC News. But to me, the reaction to this is a bit much. According to the news story there are now two – count ’em …
Just a quick one here — been pointed to the existence of a “self-sterilizing” keyboard (e.g., Brier Dudleys Blog | FDA OKs Vioguards germ-killing keyboard | Seattle Times Newspaper.) from a company called Vioguard. Clearly keyboards could be a “breeding” ground for nasty microbes so cleaning keyboards, especially those used in hospitals, seems like a good …
Well, normally I find popular press stories about getting rid of dust and bacteria to be mostly fear mongering. But this article from WebMD (which much of the time I have complaints about) actually seems worth a look: Are Vacuum Cleaners Bad for Your Health?. The article discusses in part new work from Australian researchers on …
The Washington Post reports that Legionnaire’s bacteria found throughout Hong Kong’s new government headquarters. This article reminds me of something I have been meaning to post here previously. I think one of the best ways to get the government here in the US to think more about microbes in the built environment would be to survey …
Seems like every day there is a new report of “bacteria and germs found” somewhere in the household. Todays report tells us that: Bacteria can thrive on paper towels, says study – HealthPop – CBS News. Yes, that is right – microbes – which are tiny and live EVERYWHERE – can in fact be found on …