Small Things Considered

No Title [ just a very brief rant ]

by Christoph
We "em­pha­size the un­usual and the un­ex­pec­ted phe­no­me­na for which we have a spe­cial fas­ci­na­tion." And in fact, there are so many ex­cit­ing troves in the re­cent sci­en­ti­fic li­te­ra­ture ─ and in the ol­der no less! ─ that we could ea­si­ly blog three times a week... at least. But there are, occasionally,... Read more →

An antibiotic honeycomb

by Manuel Sánchez
Atomic force mi­cros­co­py (AFM) is one of the most pow­er­ful tools in stu­dy­ing the sur­fac­es of any ma­ter­ial. So it should come as no sur­prise that it has been used in the stu­dy of vi­ral en­vel­op­es and bio­lo­gi­cal mem­branes. One of its great ad­van­tages... Read more →

Talmudic Question #201

Given that today is the day that the US celebrates Thanks­giving... What is Pseudomonas syringae pv phaseolicola – inhabitants of the green beans used for the traditional casserole – most thankful for? Read more →

Once more: I → Y → II ?

by Christoph
In part 1, I looked at Bi­fi­do­bac­ter­ium bi­fi­dum to see if the oc­ca­sion­al­ly ob­served Y-shape of these bac­ter­ia gives any hint on their mode of cell di­vis­ion ─ may­be long­i­tu­di­nal di­vi­sion? No, there is no tan­gible clue that they di­vi­de by split­ting their Y zip­per-like be­tween the "arms". Here now I ask the same... Read more →

Microbes Warming Up to Climate Change

by Mechas Zambrano 
A week of unusually warm weather for November in Boston, MA, and an online presentation on the perils of climate change have triggered my inner alarm in anticipation of troubles to come. We are well within the epoch recognized by some as the "Anthro­po­cene," in which humans have... Read more →

I → Y → II ?

by Christoph
Don't worry, STC won't switch to cu­nei­form without warning. What va­gue­ly re­sem­bles a chemi­cal for­mu­la or a cu­nei­form text is meant to keep the title as short as pos­sible. More verbose: I will take a clos­er look at Y-shap­ed bac­te­r­ia to see if their "ir­re­gu­lar" shape points to their mode of cell di­vi­sion... Read more →

Winogradsky Rothko

by Christoph
Winogradsky ─ you right­ly ex­pect the name of Ser­gei Wi­no­grad­sky (1856–1953) to come up oc­ca­sion­al­ly in a blog that Con­sid­ers Small Things. But Roth­ko ? One of the lu­mi­na­r­ies of post-WWII abstract ex­pres­sion­ism in the US, the Lat­vi­an‑Ame­ri­can pain­ter Mark Roth­ko (1903─1970) is best known for... Read more →

The Very Bacterial Caterpillar

by Jennifer Frazer
Glued to the in­side of your mouth this ve­ry mo­ment (there's a 50% chance) may be plump bac­te­ri­al ca­ter­pil­lars. They cling to your cheek with paired little hold­fasts, like the feet of a to­ma­to horn­worm re­so­lu­te­ly clasp­ing its stem. Of course, rather than to­ma­toes and to­ma­to leaves, the diet of... Read more →

Book Review: Transformer

by Janie
Here is a quote from the Hungarian biochemist Albert Szent-Györgyi: "Life is nothing but an electron looking for a place to rest." Bold statement with a good point, encapsulating the energetics and chemistry that underlies all life... This is the angle of viewing life on Earth that... Read more →

The Krebs (Bi)Cycle

by Christoph
Today I'm tak­ing you on a short tour, a (bi)­cycle tour. Don't be alarmed, it won't be a long ride. And no pre­vi­ous fit­ness check! You can cycle di­rect­ly on your screen. A mi­ni­mum of brain ac­ti­vi­ty is ex­pect­ed though. You gues­sed it, it's about the Krebs cycle. More pre­cise­ly: The Krebs (Bi)­Cycle. Let's pedal! Read more →