Virus reactivation in sepsis, influenza mixing, and Dr. Bik’s Picks, featuring animals predicting the World Cup results, and which friends to take with you to Mars.

Infection and host response

Reactivation of Multiple Viruses in Patients with Sepsis – Andrew H. Walton – PLOS ONE

“A small subgroup of septic patients had markedly elevated viral loads (>104–106 DNA copies/ml blood) for CMV, EBV, and HSV. Excluding TTV, DNAemia was uncommon in critically-ill non-septic patients and in age-matched healthy controls. Compared to septic patients without DNAemia, septic patients with viremia had increased fungal and opportunistic bacterial infections.”

 More microbes

Deadly airborne flu virus created in lab – not as bad as it sounds – Wendy Barclay – The Conversation

“Now scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US have been criticised for recreating a very similar but distinct influenza virus by mixing together a set of genes taken from viruses of wild birds that are present in the gene pool today”

Belongs to: Circulating Avian Influenza Viruses Closely Related to the 1918 Virus Have Pandemic Potential – Tokiko Watanabe – Cell Host Microbe

Human Ancestors Got Herpes from Chimps’ Ancestors – Agata Blaszczak-Boxe – LiveScience

“Researchers found that herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) infected hominids before their evolutionary split from chimpanzees 6 million years ago”

Science and Art

A Show That Really Gets Into Your Head – ‘Your Brain’ Opens at the Franklin Institute – Edward Rothstein – New York Times

“In these cases, the brain leaps ahead of what the body senses, drawing conclusions. They are sometimes wrong, sometimes subtly correct and sometimes extraordinarily imaginative.”

Dr. Bik’s Picks – Weekend Edition

Yes, You Can Get Your Cat to Behave – Wayne Pacelle – Live Science

Animals ‘Predict’ 2014 World Cup results (video) – BBC News

“China’s panda picker Ying Mei got off to a successful start, opting for the box of food emblazoned with a Brazilian flag, before the host nation beat Croatia 3-1.”

Bedtime Procrastination: Introducing a New Area of Procrastination – Floor Kroese – Frontiers in Psychology

“Introducing a novel domain in which procrastinators experience problems, bedtime procrastination appears to be a prevalent and relevant issue that is associated with getting insufficient sleep.”

Science Blogging Versus Science Journalism – Tommaso Dorigo – Science 2.0

“Hence I tried to organize my lecture as a discussion of things that science journalist wannabes could be interested to hear, from a scientist who has been blogging for 10 years and has picked up some tricks and lessons along the way.”

Skin cancer: Sunscreen ‘not complete protection’ – Helen Briggs – BBC News

“Sunscreen alone should not be relied on to prevent malignant melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, research suggests.”

Longread: Forget Calories – Counting calories is misguided. The focus belongs on real food – James Hamblin – The Atlantic

“In other words, your New Year’s resolution to lose weight probably won’t last through the spring, let alone affect how you look in a swimsuit in July.”

Longread: Extroverts Don’t Belong on Mars – Olga Khazan – The Atlantic

“Extroverted friends are good for a lot of things—serving as deft and lively wingmen, spicing up book club, sparking interesting conversations at parties by wearing ostentatious leggings, etc. One thing they may be less suited for: Long voyages to faraway planets.”

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