How a frozen bacterium might stop the great ESKAPE

For microbiologists the great ESKAPE is not an old film on the telly at Christmas. It’s a classification of the six most deadly antibiotic resistant bacteria which they work with. These are of course: Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter spp.In other words, the bacteria that most effectively “escape” the effects of antibiotics, and thus sit at the heart of our current global antimicrobial‑resistance crisis. Now hope that they might be controlled is emerging from the icy caves of the Carpathian Mountains. And you might be forgiven for thinking that at first sight it actually makes things worse.

Because frozen in the ancient soil of Carpathian caves lies a bacteria with the snappy name Psychrobacter SC65A.3 -and it’s no less than 5,500 years old. We we’ve got two covers for you today: one in Spanish from that excellent newspaper El País by Miguel Ángel Criado and one from the Mail by Shivali Best. Both wax eloquent on its dangers: it seems resistant to at least a dozen of the best-known antibiotics. But here’s the rub: the same evolutionary toughness which let it develop these remarkable powers of resistance has also let it develop remarkable powers as an enemy of other bacteria. Including many of those on our ESKAPE list.

The natural tendency of people is to look at the scary side of anything: and thereby jump to the worst possible conclusions. We know that our readers are the ones who suspend belief a little longer, and always look deeper. In the long run that’s the only type of thinking that will release us from the antibiotics resistance crisis. And many others

[1] Hallada una bacteria helada hace 5.000 años capaz de plantar cara a superpatógenos | Ciencia | EL PAÍS

[2] Prehistoric killer superbug discovered in 5,000-year-old ice is resistant to 10 modern antibiotics, study warns | Daily Mail Online

#antibiotic resistance #microbiology #medicine #health #bacteria #ESKAPE

Recovering Rivers: Yangtse shows the way

Photo by Lucia Barreiros Silva on Pexels.com

The greatest problem in conservation and pollution control is that as soon as someone introduces a new measure, however reasonable, someone else pushes back. Try to control traffic pollution(demonstrably toxic) and all the van drivers get up in arms. Try to restrict smoking, and there’s a huge uproar crying freedom, autonomy and the right to die in peace. Yes, progressive ideas may be rational and based on scientific evidence and of long term benefit. But all too often, they can give people something to lose here, now, in the short term. Everyone really, truly need conservation and pollution projects to succeed quickly, here, now as well. The answer suggests Jonathan Watts of the Guardian, is lying on the banks of the Yangtse river in China and its called Evolutionary Game Theory [1]

The Yangtse had got into a pretty sorry state over the 70 or so years up to 2020. Too much fishing, too many dams. too much pollution. An iconic species called the Baiji dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer) was even driven to extinction, a heart-breaking tragedy if ever there was one. Something had to be done. And instead of just imposing bans and top down heavy handedness, the authorities boxed clever Check this out form Jonathan:

[the policy}t was designed according to the principles of evolutionary game theory, to assess how the three main bodies affected – communities, local governments and central government – would behave depending on different applications of punishments and rewards……The government spent about $3bn on compensating and finding alternative employment for about 200,000 fishers, scrapping many of the 100,000 boats involved.

In other words ordinary people were not treated as reckless ignoramuses, but just strugglers like the rest of. They were both brought in and bought in. a lesson many governments and well meaning reformers could do well to learn from. Now the great river, one of the undoubted wonders of the world, is starting to recover. Albeit a little groggily in places. Combine that with China’s CO₂ emissions starting to flatten out, and their huge lurch towards renewable power, and you may get a glimmer of hope indeed.

[1]https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/12/china-yangtze-river-recovery-after-fishing-ban

#evolutionary game theory #conservation #ecology #pollution #communities #fishing #angtse

Friday Night: a feast for the real St Valentine

Who was the real St Valentine anyway? Legend says that he was a Christian citizen martyred at Rome on 14^th February 269 and buried among the tombs on the Via Flaminia. Trouble is, the evidence is shaky. For one thing, the Eastern churches celebrate his day on 6^th July: so what was the real date? He doesn’t even get a mention in lists of saints, compiled in the Fourth century: and even his earliest appearances occur in somewhat shaky sources [1] And the Emperor then reigning Claudius II Gothicus (not the bloke from Robert Graves) has no record as a persecutor, having many more pressing matters in his in-box [2] But whether there was a real Valentinus or not, he has left us a feast which we still celebrate today: Christians of all makes and now many non-Christians too. So with the aid of a little research we thought we’d take you back to the sort of food and drink he might have f known in that cold winter day in Rome in 269 AD.

The first thing: this isn’t the opulent capital of a superpower depicted in the movies any more. The Empire has been racked by civil wars climate change and invasions for over a century. A terrible pandemic, the Plague of Cyprianus, is raging: it will carry off the Emperor and many citizens in the next few years. And Rome reflects this downturn: it is starting to look scruffy and uncared for, because the money is running out, and the Emperor is nearly always on the frontiers. But a sort of middle class, the Decuriones still survives. It’s the stratum a real Valentinus might have come from. And tonight the paterfamilias of a modest family wants to push the boat out in honour of his older brothe, who is about to return to active service with the prestigious Legio V Macedonia, in Dacia.

All the Hollywood togas, silks and linens have vanished too. People dress in rough woollen tunics with equally serviceable hooded cloaks to keep out the weather. Much is influenced by military styles: the brother even wears braccae, a curious new garment which encloses the legs in tubes of cloth joined at the top and belted at the waist. And the food reflects Rome’s beleaguered state. As this is special, there is a first course of bread (panis secundarius) and some cheese, olives and pickled vegetables. Wine is served: rough red stuff from Campania: Gaul has long been cut off by a military rebellion. It will be well watered and served in earthenware cups. The main course will be a type of stew usually made from herbs. As tonight is special, a little expensive pork has been added. Desserts are simple too: a few raisins, dried figs maybe even some honeyed dates, as Africa is still under the rightful Emperor. And the talk is not of literature or Courtesans, but of battles, taxes, and who is still alive.

Ok it’s fiction But there really was a Valentinus, this is the world he would have known. Pretty rough, pretty humble. Compare it to the pink prosecco, chocolate and lavish meals that so many will be gobbling down tomorrow. And whatever your troubles, think yourself lucky.

[1] Saint Valentine – Wikipedia

[2] Claudius Gothicus – Wikipedia

For a general history, try

Goldsworthy, Adrian. Rome: The Eclipse of the West. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003.

#christianity #st valentine #roman empire #history #church #food #drink

Renewables: Romanian success is a big warning for Uncle Sam

One of the enduring narratives promoted by the fossil‑fuel industry is that economic growth is only possible if we continue relying on their products. It’s a story that has shaped public debate for decades — and stands in the way of a safer, cleaner future. Do we have to take them at their word? Not according to the remarkable developments in Romania, uncovered for us today by Ajit Naranjan of the Guardian.[1]

For what Ajit has found is a country successfully decoupling economic growth from fossil fuels and tying it instead to renewables. It’s all the more interesting because the Romanian oil fields were the very birthplace of Big Oil back in 1857: and the old communist regime seemed to spend its time promoting every dirty fossil fuel technology it could find. But today there is a truly stupendous investment in things like solar panels, offshore wind and nuclear power. Emissions have dropped by 75% since 1990 while GDP has doubled. Some of the achievement is down to policies- such as EU membership, cleaning up agriculture-as well as technologies. And there is a darker side, as gas and oil are far from entirely banished. But we’ll leave all this to Ajit, who does such an informative job. And although Romania so heroically leads the way:

Dozens of countries have completely decoupled their economies from emissions, even accounting for the pollution in imported goods, and many more have managed to grow richer while emissions climb at a slower rate

All of which may be bad news for the USA, which currently seems to be trying to move back towards fossil fuels. Because in a global economy shifting toward clean energy, returning to fossil fuels may prove a strategic dead end. If renewables become the backbone of 21st‑century growth — as many economists expect — then choosing the old path risks leaving a country stranded while competitors build the industries of the future.

‘The trend is irreversible’: has Romania shattered the link between economic growth and high emissions? | Romania | The Guardian

#romania #USA #fossil fuels #economic growth #global warming #climate change #rewables

Narco Warriors: Another LSS Tip triumphs

We don’t often blow our own trumpet here. Modesty is out style, and humility our method (really?-ed) So on those occasions when we actually do give you a hot tip, and it is confirmed by the respected wisdom of others, we feel the right to point to our own chest and cough: quietly, but with a certain calm sense of rectitude, A prophet honoured and all that.

In this case the tip was for that brilliant podcast Narco Warriors(LSS 3 2 26), which narrates the saga of the war on illegal drugs from the testimonies of first hand witnesses and participants [1] And the independent verification has come from the Radio Times no less. Which just happens to be the UK’s foremost source of TV radio and all other media listings.[2] There’s confirmation of our judgement if ever you needed it.

So without further ado, set the dial on your laptop, or whatever you do and take in another episode from veteran journalist Lindsay Charlton and his team of brilliant participants, researchers, designers and whoever makes the tea. As for ourselves , we will humbly paraphrase the words of the late great Elvis Presley “If you’re looking for prognostic acumen, you’ve come to the right place”

[1]https://narcowarriors.com/

[2]https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61585164055056#

#narcotics #drugs #crime #law enforcement #radio times

GCSE Revision: why humans became extinct

The following is a specimen answer to a History examination question set for GCSE students of the species Homo emergens in the year 2126 (year 76 NSE of the New Species Epoch)

Discuss the extinction of our predecessor species Homo sapiens in the middle of the 21st century and its replacement by Homo emergens

The factors that led to the downfall Homo sapiens, sometimes called humans, were in fact biological. Their cognitive capacities were no longer able to match the complexity of the world which their own technology had created.

Homo sapiens emerged from a group of similar hominin species such as Homo erectus and Neanderthals. It had evolved a brain structure which gave it an edge in cognitive reasoning. This allowed it not only to drive its competitor hominins to extinction: it allowed it to become, briefly, the biologically and ecologically dominant life form on this planet. And to form huge interconnected networks of information, trade and energy exchange called “cities”. Yet the brains of these creatures had not evolved beyond those of their ancestors. Who were adapted for survival in small hostile competing groups. The neurological architecture which had been so adaptive for that period was utterly inadequate for the complicated world which had been created in the last century of their existence. These cognitive inadequacies included confirmation bias, the sunk cost fallacy, motivated reasoning and a tendency to divide quickly into mutually jealous hostile groups. The primitive institutions which this species evolved were therefore plagued by short term bias, institutional inertia and deep patterns of hierarchical loyalty which left them unable to adapt to the rapidly changing complexities in which they operated. And none of these cognitive failures could be overcome, because they were part of the inherited biological adaptations of the species.

Thus the complications of the late human era such as climate change, Artificial Intelligence and disease pandemics represented a new environment to which this species could no longer adapt. Instead of solutions they caused economic decline, political polarisation and eventually The Great Final War of 2046. The massive falls in human population and its reduction to technological impotence provided the ecological niche into which our own species, Homo emergens, was able to move. Our current thriving is due to the same superior intellectual capacity which had allowed H sapiens to exterminate Homo erectus: as it in turn had done to the preceding Australopithecines. It is a mark of our intelligence that we have not exterminated our own predecessors but have confined their remnants to zoological parks where they may continue to be objects of scientific study and public amusement. Their fate shows that no species can survive if it is not well adapted to its environment: a lesson our own would do well to learn.

_{copyright: EmergentEdge Specimen solutions 76: “we write ’em- you pass ’em!”}

#biology #evolution #extinction #cognitive bias #war #climate change

Tariffs are starting to bite-what next?

Photo by Aleksandr Neplokhov on Pexels.com

Despite everything you read, America still counts. So when it makes a move on something as big as tariff reform, as President Trump did almost a year ago, the rest of the world is affected, Big time: and responds accordingly. Veteran readers will recall our coverage of this trope (LSS 19 5 20) and subsequent riffs on the same theme. Our misgivings were pretty clear. But, how is the world really coping with all these tariffs, counter-tariffs and all the other red tape which has appeared in the last year or so?

At first sight: it’s coping: just. In an excellent article for the Conversation Umair Choksy cites reports from both the IMF and the WTO that world trade actually increased last year. But let’s not get carried away, he warns. In the short term companies can adapt, briefly, by dipping into reserve stock or changing supplier(always to a more expensive one) But both for companies and nations, this can only last so long:

But if costs and availability remain in doubt, these temporary fixes stop working. Stock runs out. Emergency suppliers cost more. And when margins are squeezed for long enough, businesses respond by raising prices, freezing hiring, cutting hours, delaying pay rises or shedding jobs altogether.

The long term consequences are admirably summarised by this report from the Word 360 {2] In a nutshell, they are reduced trade volumes, higher inflation and reduced business confidence, which really does chime with the message of our earlier blogs. It’s quite simple really: if tariffs are such a good idea would Scotland do better by imposing them upon England? Or Kansas upon Arkansas? It was David Ricardo who summarised the benefits of free trade when he wrote:

Under a system of perfectly free commerce, each country naturally devotes its capital and labour to such employments as are most beneficial to each. This pursuit of individual advantage is admirably connected with the universal good of the whole.” [3]

We have written before on the possible advantages of a World Government. One would be the immediate abolition of all trade tariffs for they would be no longer necessary. The world would function as a single unit, with all the same internal tariff-free advantages currently enjoyed by the nations mentioned above. Time for serious consideration?

[1]https://theconversation.com/tariffs-might-seem-manageable-now-but-theyll-quietly-squeeze-households-later-274594?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from

[2]https://theword360.com/2025/09/13/the-long-term-effects-of-global-trade-wars/

[3] David Ricardo, On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (1817), Chapter 7

#tariffs #wto #IMF #trade #economics #manufacturing #inflation

Friday Night: Brandy Alexander

The first cocktail we ever saw prepared-or drunk- was almost exactly fifty years ago in a pub in West London where we worked for a summer job. The drink was lovingly prepared by one of the barpersons, a kindly soul, for her daughter who was visiting the pub on her birthday. Back then alcohol came in two forms-beer, and lager. We knew some middle class folk drank wine-but what was this curiously complicated concoction, assembled with such reverence? And which the daughter drank with due appreciation, we are happy to report.

The drink in question was the Brandy Alexander, a smooth creamy cocktail with a hidden kick. To make it, add a number of ice cubes to your shaker, one measure of brandy (yes, the cheap stuff from Malaga duty free will do fine), one of crême de cacao and, for la pièce de résistance, two of double cream. Shake vigorously and pour to an open martini-style glass. A sprinkle of nutmeg makes a good decoration, but not too much, we always say.

The original Alexander cocktail was gin-based, dating back to the early 20th century. The Brandy Alexander emerged later, gaining popularity during Prohibition when brandy was more palatable than bathtub gin The memory of those days is preserved in the gin based Alexander No 2 and there are variations based on spirits such as Tequila, Rum or Bourbon

Since that long ago summer, our knowledge of cocktails has blossomed and grown. Obviously- or we could not write this column. But we will always remember the care with which this kind but not too wealthy woman, made a special treat for her daughter. Look for kindness where you can find it, gentle readers. Even in cocktails.

#brandy alexander #cocktails #friday night #entertaining #drinks

–

Everyone hates Keir. Here’s why

As we write. the current troubles of UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer are profound. One of the reasons they are so bad is that, almost before he took office, almost no one has warmed to him: many evince active dislike. Meaning this serious, intelligent man can draw on no reserves of public goodwill in the way that a more raffish character like say Boris Johnson could. Why?

We think part of the answer lies in this article by Larry Elliott. For it charts Britain’s fall from manufacturing powerhouse to fragile services-led house of cards in a few punchy paragraphs, while noting China’s almost inverse trajectory to high tech manufacturing superpower. How so? Elliott compares the policies of two politicians who took power at around the same time in their respective nations: Deng Xiaoping and Margaret Thatcher. While the former did everything he could to foster manufacturing, the latter, a true disciple of unfettered free markets, believed:

…… market forces should determine which businesses thrived. If Britain excelled in financial and business services……… That’s what the country should concentrate its efforts on, while other nations made the ships and the machine tools

Underwritten by the short term unearned bonanza of North Sea Oil, this catechism was applied unchecked. With the results we see today. No British Government will ever again have the resources to satisfy the clamours of its citizens-for hospitals, for thriving high streets and clean water, nor create the booming economy they crave. But, used to abundant wealth and easy answers, these citizens still think like spoiled heirs burning through the last remains of the family patrimony. So any sensible family lawyer like Starmer, who tries to utter the self-earned nature of their plight, will pass unheeded, or worse, actively scorned. Such people will always prefer a story teller to a truth teller. And for a way forward? Restore manufacturing, to which end Elliott has some policy recommendations of course . But his real answer is psychological, not economic.

The bottom line is that to rebuild manufacturing Britain has to see the world through the prism of a developing country not a developed one.

In other words -forget its pride.

[1] How can Britain regain its manufacturing power? Start thinking like a developing country | Larry Elliott | The Guardian

#economics #UK #China #Deng Xiaoping #Margaret Thatcher #manufacturing #politics

Narco Warriors: brilliant new podcast on the war that’s shaped two centuries

Photo by Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs on Pexels.com

We’ve always been pretty much against the illegal drugs trade, if that is still a safe thing to say. For its reach and power give it the heft of many a nation. Its turnover is estimated to be between $300-$600 billion per year. If you throw in all the deaths-from assassinations, associated diseases and economic disruption, then these at 500 000 a year are more than many nations’ mortality statistics. And like any State, it has organised armed soldiers, trained and ready to kill. No wonder so much effort has gone in to controlling the sale and distribution of illegal drugs since the nineteenth century. when the Chinese attempted to control the illegal importation of opium. Narco Warriors, a podcast series from highly experienced journalist Lindsay Charlton is the latest attempt to chronicle the long decades of this deadly and interminable war.

Charlton and his team of researchers have assembled hardened veterans of the war-customs officers, investigators, police officers- as well as those who operate in its shadowy intelligence led nooks and corners. The listener is taken on a vast sweep of lands and seas, of shootings, confrontations, agency turf wars and many earnest intelligent brave people trying to do the best jobs they can for their countries. And we salute them, above all for their endless dedication to the public good: for its clear that people of this calibre could have made a lot more money a lot more safely in many other walks of life. And there we might end it. Except for one thought, which that old Devil has just come round and whispered into our ear.

What is a drug anyway? If you say that cannabis, cocaine and heroin are highly dangerous and addictive substances, then you must say the same for alcohol and nicotine. But these are sold openly on the streets in many western countries. Indeed the attempt by the United States to prohibit alcohol from 1919 to 1933 was one of the most unhappy and unsuccessful enterprises which that country ever undertook . For one thing, it was an object lesson in facilitating the rise of violent organised crime, a historical irony not without relevance to present policy. The real problem is that the appetite for cocaine, heroin and alcohol are all driven by human demand. Gangsters are simply those capitalists who supply the illegitimate part and operate according to the same laws of supply and demand as their peers in legal sectors of the economy. As for that demand -there is strong evidence that it is fuelled by rampant economic inequality and the associated poor housing and social and economic insecurity which that entails. In which case the State’s resources would be better spent on building homes, schools and raising the minimum wage rather than on all those flashy speedboats and burly types in uniforms. But: society made its choices long ago, and who are we to call them wrong? If you want to know the consequences of those choices, told by the people who were there, then listen to the first episode [1] And all the subsequent ones of course!

[1]https://audioboom.com/posts/8855552-narco-terrorism-the-forever-war

#drugs #addiction #narcotrafficers #law enforcement #police #transport #smugglingm #opium wars