Short Takes – 9-5-23

How thunderstorms can spawn damaging ‘downbursts’. ScienceNews.org article. Pull quote: “Every storm has a downdraft which sends cold air toward the ground and along the surface, says Charles Kuster, a research meteorologist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla. But for that downdraft to create a downburst, it needs to reach a certain velocity. There are a few different thresholds in use, but a common indicator is wind speeds above 93 kilometers per hour (58 miles per hour), which is also the wind speed that merits a severe thunderstorm warning from the National Weather Service.”

Who will pay for new antibiotics? ChemistryWorld.com article. Pull quote: “The landscape is fragile; the financial solutions and how to fund them to address AMR are not easy, especially in a cost-of-living crisis where money is already tight. But there is consensus that governments are moving in the right direction. ‘Yes, the needle is shifting but it’s shifting slowly,’ Kerr says. ‘The hope is this patchwork of different incentives will yield success. But my concern is bacteria and the evolution of resistance aren’t moving slowly.’ Given the long timeframe for antibiotic development, time is ticking for a sufficient global pull incentive. Until then, the needle will struggle to shift dramatically in the right direction against AMR [antimicrobial resistance].”

Polyurethane foams given a new lease of life as high-performance 3D printing inks. ChemistryWorld.com article. Pull quote: “Chemical recycling of thermoset polymers – cross-linked polymers that are irreversibly cured – is currently economically unattractive and the majority of these plastics end up in landfill. This has propelled research into the emerging area of chemical upcycling.”

CDC warns doctors to be on lookout for deadly flesh-eating bacteria. TheHill.com article.  Pull quote: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning doctors to be on the lookout for deadly flesh-eating bacteria that may be in waters of the Gulf of Mexico and East Coast.”