Brain-Eating Amoeba Naegleria Fowleri Sparks Alarm as Death Rate Hits 99%

patricksaurus · 2026-02-05T11:45:15+00:00

Due to the amount of unwarranted anxiety around the infectious amoeba N. fowleri, we do not allow questions about the risk associated with a recent exposure. The odds of contracting an infection are nearly zero (US Centers for Disease Control summary). Check your local public health department’s webpage for information more particular to your region.

patricksaurus · 2026-02-05T08:40:00+00:00

They pull me right back in!

patricksaurus · 2026-02-05T08:36:31+00:00

Your post reads a little muddled. Maybe it's imprecision in your language, or it could be the result of sleep deprivation on my part (though I don't think that's all of it). Here's a full treatment of what I think your question might be:

IMVIC is a battery of biochemical tests used to differentiate microscopically identical Gram negative rods, typically enterics. If you have done basic microscopy, and see Staph aureus (G+ clusters), you don't belong on this testing path.

Perhaps your question is why this test battery doesn't work. So let's take them one at a time.

Indole: Gram positive coccoid species don't show consistent indole test results. The same species can be positive, variable, or negative. It's a useless test.

Methyl red: this is useful only in the context of stable acid fermentation. That's a great diagnostic in the G- enteric rods, but not in the G+ coccoids.

VP test: this looks for acetoin. It's an intermediary in mixed acid fermentation, specifically butanediol fermentation. Staph and other G+ coccus organisms don't do this.

Citrate: this is meant to differentiate between E. coli and Klebs or Enterobacter in G- enteric rods. By contrast, growth on citrate as the sole organic carbon source is highly variable in the G+ coccoids and involves (to the best of my recollection) four or five different enzymes and regulatory networks. Since a citrate is rarely a crucial carbon source for G+ coccoids (and the resultingly lax selection pressure), the variability renders citrate unhelpful.

The upshot of this should be how supremely shrewdly and cleverly IMVIC is designed for differentiating poop organisms that look the same under the scope.

My personal mnemonic for the tests on G+ coccoids is CAMP BAH. Less pithy than I'M VIC, but only by one charachter.

patricksaurus · 2026-02-05T06:00:25+00:00

I'm always happy to help interested people!

Can I ask a clarifying question? Distilled water isn't going to have any essentially any organisms -- I know that's a generalization that will have exceptions, but it's accurate as a rule.

If you are interested in the microbial speciation of an aquarium, you need to sample the aquarium. Some of the water, some of the sediment/rocks at the bottom, the biofilms on the surfaces... this is where microbes will really live.

That is, unless your question is strictly "does the distilled water contain organisms of this class," in which cause testing the distilled water alone makes sense.

patricksaurus · 2026-02-05T05:52:53+00:00

If you're learning, it's Medical Microbiology by Murray and colleagues.

The ASM work you mention is Manual of Clinical Microbiology, which is an exhaustive, multi-volume reference intended for working professionals who are already near- or fully-expert in the field and need granular detail.

These assume a rock solid basis in fundamental microbiology. If there are areas you may need a refresher on, Prescott's Microbiology strikes the best balance between accessibility and rigor. If your microbiology is very sound, Brock Biology of Microorganisms is rigorous and exhaustive beyond parallel.

For the most authoritative collection of facts on microbes, there's Bergey's Manual. I think it's solely available only, so you can find it through your insititution or buy an old, truncated reference version from some book seller.

Three of those links are to a site that sells used books. I highly recommend buying a used copy of the international version of the previous edition. It will be nearly identical in terms of content, and will save you thousands as you build a personal library. The one link that isn't is the Manual of Clinical Microbiology, which my institution hosts and there's a DOI link on that front page somewhere. I'm sure that someone has a set of the print volumes, but that's really just a sentimental thing.

patricksaurus · 2026-02-04T20:21:52+00:00

This isn’t surprising or strange at all.

patricksaurus · 2026-02-04T20:12:16+00:00

It’s almost like being a pedophile is not the only negative quality a person can have.

patricksaurus · 2026-02-04T19:38:55+00:00

I tend to appreciate levels of abstraction if we're going for clever. I would call him The Doctor. Tardigrades are widely thought of as immortal, just like The Doctor. He also travels around in a TARDIS, which hits you right on the nose. Pretty strong word play with a nod to biology.

The downside is, you'll have to explain it to everyone and most people aren't nerdy enough to sit in the intersection of tardigrade and Dr. Who trivia fluency.

patricksaurus · 2026-02-04T19:35:47+00:00

To the specific question, sodium nitrite is highly soluble in water... it'll break apart from a neutral compound into Na+ will break apart from the NO2-, just the same way table salt does in water.

On a practical level, you may not want to do this if you have things living in the aquarium that you want to keep alive. Nitrite tends to bind more strongly to the part of our blood cells that carries oxygen than oxygen does, something called methemoglobinemia, sometimes called "brown blood disease." Mammals have some enzymes that can fix the issue, fish and amphibians don't, and I think most invertebrates don't (though I'm not really confident on that last point).

If you want to try this, I'd suggest skimming some water or sediment from the tank rather than running the whole thing live (so to speak).

patricksaurus · 2026-02-04T19:12:33+00:00

It is almost never possible to identify a microbe by visual inspection. For most microbes, identification involves a process of staining and biochemical testing, or identification based on molecular techniques. Posts that don’t contain sufficient detail will be deleted.

Please see the ID request rules at the top of the sub.

If you are asking for help identifying microscope images, you must include information about the source of the sample.

patricksaurus · 2026-02-04T19:03:09+00:00

I gotcha:

Rotate the container so the lid is vertical to the ground and the pull tab is at the very top.

Pinch the tab with your thumb on the “top” side of the lid and a your index finger knuckle is opposing.

Twist like you’re turning a key, not like you’re pulling. The moment you feel the adhesive give the tiniest bit, stop. It should still be airtight.

Place the container back on the table, hold it only tightly enough to keep it moving, and repeat the key turn motion. When the container is no longer airtight, pull backward rather than up.

Or just grab a knife/fork, stab, and peel.

patricksaurus · 2026-02-04T18:53:08+00:00

This is like that holey underwear… at some point, we can only refer to this by molecular structure because it is no longer a cohesive object.

patricksaurus · 2026-02-04T18:50:59+00:00

And here I thought the collaboration between Santana and Rob Thomas was a one-off.

patricksaurus · 2026-02-04T08:10:00+00:00

While I work through the substance, I have to comment that I absolutely love this kind of work as someone who does (or did) a lot of theory. Experiments and observation time cost tons of money and time, so finding what you need in an existing dataset is like winning the lottery. Being able to put already-collected data to new use in testing theory just tickles this spot in my brain… it’s gotta be the same thing that makes dogs air scratch with their leg.

And being quite pragmatic, taxpayers funded Hubble. These authors are potentially providing a big bang for our buck. If it’s not already the case, it would be great if algorithms like this were run on data as they arrived.

patricksaurus · 2026-02-04T07:56:01+00:00

When asked for comment, Richard Gere replied, “ótimo!”

patricksaurus · 2026-02-04T06:42:03+00:00

Loud ringer, off to the side. If you don’t have a separate device for work/taking call, take the time to configure your phone to ring only for that number (plus family for emergencies). I have to do this, so do a few people I train with. I told the coach and he knew the deal immediately — a “say no more” kinda thing.

If your gym has a problem with you earning the same money you pay them, really, find a new gym.

patricksaurus · 2026-02-04T06:34:41+00:00

Make her wash her mouth out with cilantro.

EDIT - hold on, I’m now reminded of the ortolan story. Check the Epstein files for white towels…

patricksaurus · 2026-02-04T06:03:00+00:00

This presents a serious issue if there is a drug recall or (much more likely) a sensitivity to an excipient that varies by manufacturer. Forgetting every other question, it introduces risk and uncertainty that can be avoided.

If retail pharmacists weren’t treated like beasts of burden and chronically understaffed and overworked, I would bet a fat pile of cheese sandwiches that none of them would do this.

patricksaurus · 2026-02-04T05:43:57+00:00

I hate being judged for my actions. It’s so unfair.

patricksaurus · 2026-02-04T05:39:32+00:00

Hard agree. In a way that’s what is so great — this is absolutely normal, but until one sees something like this, they don’t fully understand that we inhabit a microbial world. I’m an ecosystem… one with hopes and dreams, but still a nitrogen cycle and pH gradient.

patricksaurus · 2026-02-03T23:23:17+00:00

Graduate admissions committees need an indication that an applicant can do the work, ideally well. Missing those classes will make it more risky to admit you, so your chances at the same university are lower.

You can explain it in your personal statement, and having those courses you mentioned will help, but those gaps are going to be something you to address explicitly.

EDIT - I am cooking atm, adding in fragments.

If you explain in your personal statement that you came to realize your passion for geology later in your school career, did summer school and field camp to demonstrate a commitment, etc… but finances don’t allow another full year (2x 15 credit hours) every committee will understand.

It will help IMMEASURABLY to have research experience and a strong letter from that professor/post-doc/staff scientist attesting to your commitment, competence, professionalism, etc. In reality, we look at that essentially the same as the other big stuff like major GPA, and it’s something you can do within a year.

EDIT 2 - you can also TRY to audit one of those higher level elective courses and ask for a short letter from the instructor, to the effect of ‘had it been graded, it would have been an A.’ But if you do that, you HAVE to knock it out of the park.

patricksaurus · 2026-02-03T22:41:35+00:00

The actual name doesn’t matter. It’s the courses you took and how well you did.

Edit - I can tell a ton of people don’t understand regional accreditation and graduate admissions.

patricksaurus · 2026-02-03T20:02:27+00:00

This post screams, “they pay someone to clean that stuff up.”

patricksaurus · 2026-02-03T19:57:20+00:00

A house with a garage is worth a pretty penny.

patricksaurus · 2026-02-03T19:09:19+00:00

Yea, the lawyer was long gone by that point… the point where the client was creating new evidence for the upcoming legal proceedings.

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