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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 12th, 2023

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  • Phages are pretty cool, but bacteria do develop phage resistance as well. Phages also can evolve to evade those resistances, in a co-evolutionary battle, but also Phages can still be seen as antigens to our own body.

    A recent case-study: https://www.upmc.com/media/news/021424-phage-therapy

    To avoid reading the whole article: Antibiotics no-longer worked for a patient in 2020 that developed an infection after needing immunosuppression for treatment of an autoimmune condition, so they tried phage therapy.

    quote from the phage treatment section:

    Within 24 hours of receiving phage therapy, the patient’s blood infection had resolved and she could go home, where she continued the phage and antibiotic combination. She developed a few short-lived breakthrough infections, which indicated the bacteria was getting around the therapy, so the researchers found an additional phage that targeted her bacteria.

    With the addition of the new phage, the patient was blood infection-free for four months and able to travel out of state for a for a family beach vacation.

    However, just over six months after starting phage therapy, the blood infection returned, and the phage-antibiotic combination was thought to be no longer effective. The patient died in 2022.

    In order to learn why the infections recurred despite the combination being previously effective, laboratory testing revealed that the patient’s immune system had likely activated in a way that blocked the phages from attacking the bacteria.

    I’m not disagreeing with the benefits of Phage Therapy, just that it isn’t likely a magic solution all on it’s own, and can still suffer similar resistance issues as antibiotics have. I’m a fan of multipronged attack vectors, to reduce the chance of developing progressive resistances (ie. wipe out the whole colony), and the more tools we have for that, the better.


  • I believe I saw a story about a Russia state media person proposing using tactical nukes on their own territory. I don’t think they actually would, but Russia may… Let the enemy group up in your own territory, and nuke it… other than humanitarian concerns for their own citizens, other countries ability to complain would be dulled if they were nuking their own internationally recognized territory.

    Honestly, probably a great tactic to act as a deterrent in future wars (such as with the US).

    I’ve caved by the end of this message… no sane person would, but I wouldn’t call Russia’s current government sane.



  • I know little about Russia, but a quote from earlier this year from a Russian:

    Boris Vishnevsky, a member of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly, responded to Beglov’s remarks, saying in a Telegram post that “a quarter of Russians do not have centralized sewerage,” citing data from Rosstat, Russia’s state statistics service.

    “And basically, it is hard to imagine something more gender-neutral than a backyard ‘latrine’-style toilet,” he added.

    For context: In response to criticizing gender neutral toilets in Ukraine (I don’t know if they mean individual/private unisex bathrooms, or actual group restrooms they think are trans bathrooms, it’s not the point of this discussion anyways).


  • Just show up for the Sept 10th debate you already agreed to. ABC, don’t cave to any of his weird demands/temper tantrum; just do the debate as agreed, and if he doesn’t show, that’s fine too.

    People aren’t going to want to watch three debates of your dumb ass in a single month. One debate is sufficient in September. If you both agree on it, one in October to keep it fresh in people’s minds are also fine, though not necessary. Everyone knows Trump already, this is really just a chance for undecideds, or wall sitters to get to know Harris.



  • knowing anything about women’s health because it’s “yucky”

    Can we just rename Tampons for them, to “Jesus Sticks”, and when they have to have an uncomfortable conversation, they can just pull one out and say “You need Jesus”? Or when asking someone for one, someone can proudly proclaim “I need Jesus” to their friends.

    I’ve gotten the seriousness out in other comments; I just had the thought, and had to share it somehow, somewhere.

    They’ve done a good job making menstruation ‘yucky’; the majority of women I know have at some point apologized to me after periods come up in group or private conversations. It’s just a period, nothing to be ashamed of.



  • Truck_kun@beehaw.orgtoMemes@lemmy.mlFirefox + Ublock = 👑
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    3 months ago

    For others, I set up uBlock at minimum.

    For myself uBlock + uMatrix.

    If on a computer need more security uBlock + uMatrix + NoScript.

    uBlock and uMatrix can block scripts, but I find NoScript’s fine grain control to be user friendly. Makes it a pain to browse the web though, until you setup each of your normal sites.








  • I believe modern presidential campaigns focus their war chest into swing states, and typically less into stronghold states; they typically would have already done that in the primary against people of the same party. My concern is more around if they don’t have the name recognition, and didn’t have the primary to build that, they may have to spread their funds more than Trump would at this point in time.

    Then again, I’m sure Fox would spread such name with vitriol, so people would at least hear about the candidate. Them negging on Harris already at the RNC is only increasing the chance of them having a more viable opponent, but they can’t help themselves when the crowd eats it up.

    But I may be being too critical. For the typically non-conservative, maybe just having a Dem on the ticket that isn’t Biden, is young, and they know nothing about, may be a good thing. If they haven’t commented on Isreal/Gaza (or foreign politics at all really), and are a state level actor like a Governor (and thus has little influence on national economics), maybe there won’t be much for swing voters/independents, or progressives to have a grievance about. Will really depend on who it is.


  • he was able to buy an AR-15 at 22 I think.

    Pretty sure the reports point to him having it for over a decade. Without taking any effort to look it up, I think his dad bought him that gun in like 2013, so he was much younger at the time.

    As for ‘good life going’, doesn’t sound that way in general, but apparently he just got his associates degree from community college, and had been accepted into a university, but he decided not to go.


  • No one saw this coming. Just wow.

    Except for the vocal people that saw it coming, and were constantly shouted down as ‘Sony fanboys’, and Sony this, Call of Duty that.

    The Bethesda acquisition has shown all we needed to know about how an Activision Blizzard acquisition would go. I hated seeing every pro-acquisition argument being about Sony and Call of Duty, and promises for Call of Duty to be on PlayStation.

    I don’t play Call of Duty, I don’t care about it, I don’t even game much, but when I do, it is PC. Allowing further consolidation of Microsoft and Sony of other games studios is just not good for consumers or the market, it doesn’t matter which ‘team’ you are on.