Small Things Considered

Little things matter, in both virology and your PhD

by Shuxuan Zheng | Blaise Pascal said that "Little things console us because little things afflict us." In the time of CO­VID-19, Pascal's words have never been more prescient. Viruses – those little things behind the global microbiological threat – demand not only our fear but also our respect. Read more →

Merry Youle, our Blogger Emerita has died

by Elio and the STC Team | Merry joined me almost at very inception of this blog. She modestly offered to proofread the ma­terial. Although she had a background in science (Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins, long ago), she had given it up in favor of an unconventional life. But, luck would have it, shortly before she contacted me, she had bought a microbiology textbook,... Read more →

Preparedness

by the STC team | Surely our readers have been en­cir­cled by news of the ra­pid­ly ex­pand­ing COVID-19 out­break. Or­di­na­ri­ly, at STC we do not co­ver cur­rent events. But these be­ing ex­tra­or­di­na­ry times, we de­ci­ded to pre­sent a few thoughts on the need for pre­pa­red­ness in the face of this pan­demic. We were great­ly in­spir­ed by the com­mu­ni­ca­tion work that Rich Lenski has... Read more →

Winter Vacation

We take advantage of this being the season for re­joic­ing, and take our customary two week winter va­ca­tion. When we return in 2019, on January 6th, we will enter the 14th year of Small Things Considered. Read more →

Happy Thirteenth Birthday Small Things Considered!

by Elio and Roberto | This coming Sunday, December 1st, we'll be celebrating the thirteenth birthday of STC. Now a teenager! The blog has matured to over 1300 posts, two per week with virtually no interruptions. This is something that makes us very happy. When we think about it, if we were to print all those posts on standard letter size paper... Read more →

Must Read – Time to Cut Down the Tree of For-Profit Science Publishing

by Roberto | Here at STC we have covered the growing problems with the way that scientific publishing has evolved over the past few deca­des. Two instances come to mind, a conversation I held with George O'Toole and a recent praise of the eLife model as a step in the right direction to alleviate some of the problems. Our voices... Read more →

Will the real phage lambda please stand up?

by Nicholas Redmond | Phage infection of a bacterial cell typically begins when the phage’s tail fibers bind a receptor on the host cell, allowing for the ejection of genetic material. At this point, either the lytic or lysogenic cycle begins. Read more →

Hans Christian Gram

by Elio and Roberto | In 2013, an article  on the Gram stain appeared in these pages. It celebrated the persistence of this procedure in microbiology, as well as its origins. In the early days of bacteriology, staining was a key technique, at first even more important than cultivation. Read more →

In and About Copenhagen

by Roberto | Not too many months ago Elio posted an engaging and very personal essay of his two years in Copenhagen. Those years spanned from 1956 to 1958, a mere 62 years ago, at a time when I was still in pre-school. While editing Elio's text, I was quite taken by his description of those days as "most likely the happiest of my life." Read more →

Discovering a Novel Algal-Fungal Symbiosis and a Humanized Journal

by Elio | Lichens are said to occupy an astounding 6% of the surface of Earth’s land mass, so pay attention. As you are well aware, lichens arise by the symbiotic interaction of fungi and algae (or sometimes cyanobacteria). And as you know, they consist of separate individuals of the two partners, each benefiting from the interaction. Read more →