h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

So many Important Ideas and theories and fact and good times, we've all shared here. I think we should have someone move the conversation.

Ah ha! Now I see what you were getting at on the other thread. It would be handy for the editors to have this thread attached to the edited entry for when they get round to updating it. Right. I agree then

Just been over to read your Drug Resistance entry. That's looking good Orcus! Really interesting. Aren't bacteria amazing? I know some of them are a bit of a flippin' nuisance, but I'm a fan. When you consider what they're able to do without planning or malice ... well, don't I go on?

Anyway, it's coming along well. There are a few patches of techiness but I think they'll be fine with a few words of explanation. I think you might mention, in the case of the early treatments using things like mercury, how effective and how dangerous they were compared to modern antibiotics. Also, I seem to remember that producing the first penicillin in bulk was a hell of a job. I think people will be interested in those sorts of details. Also, do you remember that "flesh eating" thing (I can't remember its proper name off-hand)? Was that drug resistant? If so, it might be worth a mention because it's something all your readers will have heard of and shuddered at.

Give me a shout when you've done some more to it and I'll have another read.

Sal

Thanks Sal, I'll take on board what you say, it does still need a lot doing to it and I'll try and tone down the techiness when its finished.

Necrotising Fasciitis. No, not drug resistant, doesn't need to be, it kills within minutes or hours, antibiotics are usless on this time scale (E. coli O157 - the one that killed a few in Scotland was almost as quick but introvenous anitibotics could save if it was caught in time).
Surprised you haven't heard about that in your studies on bacteriophages. Necrotising Fasciitis is simply a strain of Streptococcus that has been infected with a particular bacteriophage that makes in EXTREMELY virulent. The only way to save a patient is by drastic emergergency surgery - usually amptuation of an infected limb is required. Nasty .

Bacteria can be a nuisance but are actually pretty majorly essential in the biosphere (I think they're actually the dominant organism - in terms of nummers at least). No nitrogen could be 'fixed' from the atmosphere without them (nitrogen gas is extremley inert - pea and bean plants contain a bacterium that turns it into ammonia then into amino acids etc - no other organism can do this, ony us and lightning can do it otherwise and that's not life really). We have essential gastric bacteria that help digest our food and they perform an essential role in breaking down dead material that is then recycled back into living organisms. I guess you could say I'm a fan too(although not of the Campylobacter food poisoning strain I got recently )

Thanks Sal, I'll take on board what you say, it does still need a lot doing to it and I'll try and tone down the techiness when its finished.

Necrotising Fasciitis. No, not drug resistant, doesn't need to be, it kills within minutes or hours, antibiotics are usless on this time scale (E. coli O157 - the one that killed a few in Scotland was almost as quick but introvenous anitibotics could save if it was caught in time).
Surprised you haven't heard about that in your studies on bacteriophages. Necrotising Fasciitis is simply a strain of Streptococcus that has been infected with a particular bacteriophage that makes in EXTREMELY virulent. The only way to save a patient is by drastic emergergency surgery - usually amptuation of an infected limb is required. Nasty .

Bacteria can be a nuisance but are actually pretty majorly essential in the biosphere (I think they're actually the dominant organism - in terms of nummers at least). No nitrogen could be 'fixed' from the atmosphere without them (nitrogen gas is extremley inert - pea and bean plants contain a bacterium that turns it into ammonia then into amino acids etc - no other organism can do this, ony us and lightning can do it otherwise and that's not life really). We have essential gastric bacteria that help digest our food and they perform an essential role in breaking down dead material that is then recycled back into living organisms. I guess you could say I'm a fan too(although not of the Campylobacter food poisoning strain I got recently )

Thanks for reading the story so far

Mark Moxon gave a good argument for leaving the thread here and making a link. We could salvage the best stuff and paste it in the new conversation. Ah life...

Are you rascals still at it? Sounds like a good idea George You're very organised. Well done.

Orcus, don't waste your surprise on me! Remember I told you ages ago that I decided to write entries on things that I knew hardly anything about, beyond the fact that they interested me. That's what I did. I spent ages researching them before I wrote them, but I started out knowing virtually nothing. The Necrotising Fasciitis must've slipped by me, which is a shame, because it's another fascinating snippet. There's definitely a place for that in the bacteriophage entry, in the last section under the "Potential Dangers ..." heading. I guess there's no rush because the eds never seem to get round to updating entries, but I'll find out about the nasty little strep and post a message on the edited entry to ask the eds to add the info when they get round to updating it. Thanks for that

I actually put in the stuff about what beneficial little smashers bacteria are, under the heading "What are Bacteria?"

I don't think your article's way too techie. I think it's ok to put unfamiliar and complicated stuff in as long as it's explained in plain English, in footnotes if necessary. I was half asleep when I posted last night's message so forgot to say one of the most interesting things to "make a meal of" is HOW bacteria get resistance from each other. How do they pass resistance from species to species - that sort of thing. The way they do that is just fascinating.

Do you think if they stopped using the antibiotics that lots of bacteria have gained a resistance to, for, say 10 or 20 years, they could be used again on non-resistant bacteria in the future?

Sal

That's hard to say, bacterie being composed of DNA and RNA, which kind of helps them remember things genitically.

Not necessarily . As Robert Jordan (the author) ways when asked about plot line in his next book. RAFO (read and find out).

Ooh, the way they pass resistance to each other really is a bit techy but maybe I can explain it in laymen's terms .

Yes, have a go! I insist! I want to know and so will the rest of your readers I'm waiting to read and find out ...

Gosh! I better finish it soon then, don't want to disappoint! Tomorrow though. To bed soon methinks

I'm still confused by the time difference. If I'm in the New York time zone (Eastern-US) and it's 6 o'clock, what time is it there? Remember we do daylight savings, so now we're an hour ahead.

Er... don't know about that. The answers to your questions before can now be read on A535592. If you like it, why not give it your support at Peer Review on http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/F48874?thread=108187 :-D RAFO ;-)

Anyway, there is a prion related thing I wanted to share, but I don't remember where I put it. I look for it later. The clue is 42.

Just clearing the cob-webs.