Small Things Considered

The Fires of Saint Anthony – A Snippet

by Roberto
Just recently, after giving a very general public lecture on microbes, the discussion went – not surprisingly – in the direction of humans and our relationships to our microbiota. Read more →

Dental Care for Your Pet: For Their Health and Yours

by Meaghan O’Neill | Ever since the domestication of wolves, humans have probably remarked upon the particularly bad breath that our dog companions frequently display. Medieval illuminated bestiaries speculated that the strong odor from a wolf’s mouth could betray his presence to prey – like a flock of sheep – causing the wolf to its make approach from downwind. Read more →

Winter Vacation and the New STC Logo

by Team STC | We take advantage of this being the season for rejoicing, whoo-hoo!, and take our annual winter two week vacation. When we return in 2019, we will enter the 13th year of Small Things Considered. And we do so for the first time with our own logo! Read more →

It Comes With The Terroir

by Roberto | There is something very special about wine, at least for my taste. I do, however, admit to the possibility that many of our readers will wonder what's the big deal about the beverage, it's just fermented grape juice after all. Read more →

Symbiosis

by Elio et al. | For as long as I can re­mem­ber, I have been fas­ci­na­ted by the sub­ject of sym­bio­sis. This is one of the grand themes in bio­lo­gy, what Mar­ga­ret McFall-Ngai has apt­ly called 'the ele­phant in the room', de­serv­ing much love and at­tent­ion. But ex­act­ly, what is it that is so fas­ci­na­ting about it? Read more →

"May I ask you a question?"

by Elio | My first lecture (in 1958, long ago) was to medical students and the subject was DNA. I felt privileged to be given the task to talk about this subject, which was born in its modern incarnation not many years earlier. Read more →

Small (and Large) Numbers Considered

by Roberto | It can be both fun and instructive to play with numbers that give us some sense of the microbial world. Consider, if you will, some of the following examples… Read more →

The Secrets of Ancient Beer

by Gillian Belk
With the Octoktoberfest themed beers flowing all season, it seemed only appropriate to have a post about the marvels of this delightful frothy beverage Read more →

Vaccines and the Fight Against Antibiotic Resistance

by Roberto | For the vast majority of the natural history of Homo sa­piens, some 200,000 years, the average life expectancy at birth has been around 30 years. What I find most amazing is that as recently as 1900 the world average human life expectancy at birth had remained unchanged. Read more →

From the Classroom

Dr. Melanie Armstrong, of Western Colorado University, got a message, which reminded us of our Talmudic Questions... Read more →