I’m torn between wanting to ignore this story and wanting to attack the media reports on the study. I think I’ll compromise on a minimum set of complaints. Firstly, the paper itself (“Deposition of respiratory virus pathogens on frequently touched surfaces at airports“) is more or less fine. The authors used real-time PCR to look …
I just got pointed to this article today “Ugly Ducklings – the dark side of plastic materials in contact with potable water“, along with the accompanying commentary “About duck, pipes, and microbiomes“. I think this is a fascinating study for a few reasons. Firstly, like probably most parents, I observed and wondered about the biofilms …
A few days ago, the FDA began issuing citations to cheese makers in New York State for the use of wooden shelves and boards for aging cheese, a practice that is permissible by state law and has been used for hundreds of years. Not surprisingly, this made a lot of people pretty angry. A Whitehouse.gov …
Giant piles of plastic floating in the ocean might not be what most people think of when they hear the phrase “built environment”… but hey, we built it! Turns out that this “plastisphere” has it’s own microbiome, distinct from the seawater around it. Not surprisingly of course, but cool that someone is looking. Abstract below, …