Just got another alert about relocating my active journal to dw.  I already backed it up but seems like not a bad idea to just remove ourselves from this forum.  I have enjoyed it, it has been a good place for me to journal and take notes.  I kept my same username on dw, and will complete the transition in the next couple of months.... Here goes.

( notes from Nature article )

The Russians have known about phages and used them to treat severe infections since the 1930's. New research shows that lots of phages live in mucus. Wherever there is mucus there is likely to be a large population of phages--including mucus produced by other species such as sea coral, plants, etc ( Read more... )

Just yesterday I finally stopped ignoring the Middle East and looked up a few things. Like who is Shia and who is Sunni. And who has nukes and where. And what exactly an Islamist is. It was....a useful exercise. Anyone else out there taking an interest in this juncture of history? I'm ready to be educated ( Read more... )

I didn't hear about these women until today. Perhaps you've already heard. Pussy Riot a Russian punk rock band who performed an anti-Putin song in the "main cathedral" of the Orthodox Church. Now they have been held in "pre-trial detention" for months. It is expected that they will serve years of jail time for the offense, which was, in a word ( Read more... )

Another Russian language user just added me as a friend. I knew that there are a lot of Russians on LJ but until today I didn't know that LJ is playing a part in the efforts of the Russian intelligentsia to share information and circumvent state efforts to control all media. Learned of this thanks to neptunia67. I hope that LJ can withstand the attacks ( Read more... )

I notice that people who have been adding me as a friend are posting in what looks like Russian language. Hello! Why are you interested in my posts? Who are you? Do you know each other? What is it that you are interested in? What do you believe in? Since I cannot read your posts, I know nothing about you.

Love is your response to your values in another person.--Ayn Rand ( Read more... )

A new enzyme (NDM-1) has been found in some bugs brought back to the UK by people who went to India and Pakistan for hospital procedures. The enzyme makes these microbes resistant to yet another type of abx (carbapenems, the last of the beta lactams that can beat bugs with beta lactamase). NDM-1 has been found in E.coli and they're worried that ( Read more... )

When I drove into Oregon a few days ago I noticed a thick white haze over Pendleton. A day or so later I heard on the NPR news that the widespread haze had blown here from extensive fires burning in Russia. Apparently it's ungodly hot there and the peat bogs are burning. Today I learn that people are getting worried that the burns in Russia are ( Read more... )