NEWS: More Terror From Outer Space

Would the earth mice would have done better with the space salmonella if they'd been to space too? Come to think of it, John Glenn looks awfully healthy for an 86 year old.

FLUX AND DG: Striking fear of space madness into the hearts of men since 2007.

Soon all the evil bacteria will unite as one superamazinglyhugedisastrous germ that will be so big, it will eat Earth for lunch. Then it will go on eating the other planets until the entire universe is gone!!
We should all start living in pure alcohol immediately to save ourselves from the space virus

Are you implying that the game Tasty Planet(If you don't know what it is look it up) is a documentary?

I was thinking about TODAY and thought, there has got to be some way to turn superbugs to advantage, right? why can't bacteria give us super strength or increase our virility, why must they always give us diarrhea or break out in hives?

IIUC, this has already happened more than once. Symbiotes are just parasites with enlightened self-interest.

I was thinking more along the lines of some kind of deep space voyage to an inhabited planet (likened to Columbus to the Americas or Cook to Australia). The germs those space explorers would be carrying when they leave would mutate into super viruses and wipe out the inhabitants of the planet they're going to.

Of course, in the short term, any astronauts going into space now could very well bring back some kind of super bug. Lets hope none of them do have Ebola when they leave.

The same reason shit doesn't smell like roses

Believe it or not, 100% ethanol is not the optimum alcohol concentration to use when killing bacteria.

It has been a long time since this was explained to me (back when I had just started my Biochemistry degree) but the explanation runs something like this. Many species of bacteria possess a thick, slimy cell wall. 100% ethanol dehydrates the cell wall too quickly. The dessicated cell wall inhibits the passage of ethanol through the cell wall, effectively protecting the bacterial cell from exposure to the ethanol. Bacterial cells treated in this manner don't tend to die. Instead they become dormant, somewhat like spores, just sitting, waiting, like some brooding, lurking evil, until something comes along and rehydrates them.

I can't remember what the optimum ethanol concentration is but I think that 70% ethanol is quite commonplace in labs. I don't know if 70% is the optimum or if it represents a compromise between cost effectiveness and bacterial exterminating power. Maybe in labs where they study high risk pathogens a higher concentration would be employed.

For what it's worth, I feel I can only do my part by NOT taking antibiotics unless it is needed for Strep/Staph infections. (strep throat iif untreated by meds, affects your heart)Antibiotics lower the immune. B 12 and is an excellant source for the body. This read is good but freaks me out. It is not only possible but probably has already sprinkled down from outerspace.

That is the fucking coolest way to kill mice I have ever heard of.

In later life didn't L Ron Hubbard become ultra-paranoid and obsessive about germs?