Monthly Archives: November 2020

Antimicrobial Resistance: Using Water Fingerprinting to Assess Usage and Fate of Antibiotics

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A guest post by Elizabeth Holton, University of Bath

The discovery of antibiotics unquestionably changed the face of public health. However, pathogenic tolerance to these drugs is ever increasing, and it’s becoming a . The topic of antimicrobial, or antibiotic resistance (AMR) has existed for almost as long as the initial discovery of penicillin in the late 1920s; the difference now is the lack of new drugs being developed as alternatives. The discovery of new antibiotics is of course critical, yet we should be focusing more attention on prevention and containment. Inappropriate usage and disposal, livestock supplements in agriculture, and poor international regulation are some significant contributors; but are often difficult to quantify. One technique that is now being utilized is ‘water fingerprinting.’

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Ancient Marine Mammal Bones Record Dynamic Change in Mercury Concentrations Over the Last 3000 Years

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The following post is one of a series previewing the research that will be presented at the (SciCon2), 15–19 November 2020.

A guest post by Julie P. Avery, Nicole Misarti, Todd M. O’Hara, and Lorrie D. Rea

Do you like fish?  Have you heard about consuming predatory fish such as tuna, swordfish, and shark due to high mercury? Fish are a healthy food and an excellent source of lean protein, healthy omega-3 fats, vitamin D, iron, selenium, zinc, and iodine. Fish provide all these nutrients, which are essential for human and animal health. Marine mammals in Alaska, like Steller sea lions and northern fur seals, thrive on a diverse fish diet. But what about the mercury? Since we eat some of the same fish as seals and sea lions, we can study them to understand how mercury might affect humans. 

Coastal and Arctic communities are especially vulnerable to the effects of mercury contamination due to their dependence on fish and marine resources for food and sociocultural needs. According to , mercury is one of the top 10 contaminants of concern for human health.  

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Spiders!

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The following post is one of a series previewing the research that will be presented at the (SciCon2), 15–19 November 2020.

A guest post by Gale Beaubien

One day, my oldest daughter (age 5) had to poop, an event that typically requires the audience of my youngest (age 3). However, on this particular journey, my oldest saw a small cellar spider in the adjacent bathtub, and this sight caused both to scream bloody murder.

Now, I study riparian spiders (more on that later) and my daughters have lived most of their lives with a striped-knee tarantula, that they named “Mr. Mommy.” They talk to Mr. Mommy, they help me feed her, they tap the glass – by all accounts, they seem to like Mr. Mommy. Additionally, they’ve both seen me shuttle wolf spiders from inside the house to the outdoors. We look at spiders on my phone and we talk about how jumping spiders are cute (seriously, if you didn’t know this… look at pictures of jumping spiders. Jumping spiders have a pair of large front eyes that make them adorable). However, I guess they forgot.

An adorable jumping spider. Photo by Opoterser–own work, CC-BY-SA 3.0,
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