Can't Let Go

A fungal "want-to-be conk" will be motivated, I think, by the portrait of its distant relative. Although he is long deceased, this gentleman was known to grow a centimeter a day in his prime.

As a youth, he rubbed shoulders with luminaries including a Nepenthese and also three Platyceria. The Nepenthese met an untimely end while braving temperatures which plunged to 20ºF. This burst over 90% of the Nepenthese's cell walls, ensuing in wilting, a sickeningly green smell and ultimately, death.

The Platyceria accidently drowned while on a vacation in the bathroom.

Top Ten Uses for Woodchuck

You have all been clamoring for this, so I give in.

Woodchucks.

1. incentives to make that caged garden/racquetball court I keep yakking about.


2. Rapid response test kits for antifreeze efficacy.
Or at least conversation starters about such things.

3. Volunteer mining dervishes to dig up broken glass you never knew you had.




















4. Fur collars and neck wear. I hear woodchuck fur is not particularly warm. Why oh why do woodchucks always look so frigging angry? They are so incredibly scary. Just look at this one.

5. Stew
Here is a nice one.Why don't you try it next Friday night? Don't use the woodchuck from "2," unless you want a quick trip to Emergency.

WOODCHUCK (GROUNDHOG) STEW


1 woodchuck

2 onions, sliced

1/2 cup celery, sliced

Flour

Vinegar and water

Salt and pepper

Cloves
Clean woodchuck; remove glands; cut into serving pieces. Soak overnight in a solution of equal parts of water and vinegar with addition of one sliced onion and a little salt. Drain, wash, and wipe. Parboil 20 minutes, drain, and cover with fresh boiling water. Add one sliced onion, celery, a few cloves, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until tender; thicken gravy with flour.

6. Vocabulary enlargers for your personal quota of expletives. Just substitute a new word for every mundane monosyllable you are about to scream each time you enter the garden.

7. Instant horror film footage. I get shivers just looking at this creepiness of this sly specimen.

8. The best work-out your dog can get. Look at this vicious creature. Scarface here is a typical example of these brutal and wicked beasts.

9. Stimulus for creative methodology.

10. Fodder for heated debates on "all things pink and fluffy" versus "shotgun and sling shot practice."

Fungal organisms on and in us

photo of Aspergillus © 2000-2007 doctorfungus.org

$50 off sale! This week only! 

Your fungal fingerprint!!

Most of us think of fungal infections when the words fungus and humans wind up in the same sentence. Livestrong itemizes five of the most common fungal infections that crop up relentlessly. Fungal infections can be notoriously difficult to eradicate, partly because fungi and and animals (such as humans) largely tolerate the same living conditions, and what is poison to one, is poison to the other as well.

However, many fungi happily co-exist with people, and visa versa. Candida albicans, so sorely misaligned as a villainous trespasser, is in actuality a member of the healthy flora in the human gut. It is only when it overgrows a reasonable population that it becomes a problem.

In June, a short article by Rosie Mestel (Los Angeles Times) outlined a few details of the Human Micriobiome Project report:
"You won’t find links to disease from the data from the five-year Human Microbiome Project, because all the subjects had to be in super-duper health. The volunteers couldn’t even have gum disease, which affects maybe 40% of Americans. There’s a reason why only healthy people were chosen. The scientists wanted to figure out a baseline healthy microbiome to compare against people with medical problems, and it’s expected that what they have found will inform a raft of future studies into disease and the microbes that we harbor. And yes, researchers are finding links to a lot of disorders: inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, psoriasis, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis and more. Such links have to be studied in depth before scientists can be sure that the microbes are actually contributing to the conditions."

Each of us has a unique microbial "fingerprint" that identifies us as surely as our DNA fingerprint. You can not change yours no matter how many times you wash your hands, or change your diet!
“Even identical twins harbor substantially different microbial communities, suggesting that the collective genomes of our microbial symbionts may be more personally identifying than our own human genomes…” Noah Fierer et al, 2010

A repository for microbial fingerprints will be the next wave in identity protection. it's just microns away!

More Sale info later. Stay tuned.

lookitup:
fungal infections
human microbiome project
Metagenomics of the Human Intestinal Tract