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Microbes In Space Mutated and Developed a Remarkable Ability

"A box full of viruses and bacteria has completed its return trip to the International Space Station," reports ScienceAlert, "and the changes these 'bugs' experienced in their travels could help us Earthlings tackle drug-resistant infections..."


Scientists aboard the space station incubated different combinations of bacteria and phages for 25 days, while the research team led by biochemist Vatsan Raman carried out the same experiments in Madison, down here on Earth. "Space fundamentally changes how phages and bacteria interact: infection is slowed, and both organisms evolve along a different trajectory than they do on Earth," the researchers explain. In the weightlessness of space, bacteria acquired mutations in genes involved in the microbe's stress response and nutrient management. Their surface proteins also changed. After a slow start, the phages mutated in response, so they could continue binding to their victims.
The team found that certain space-specific phage mutations were especially effective at killing Earth-bound bacteria responsible for urinary tract infections (UTIs). More than 90 percent of the bacteria responsible for UTIs are antibiotic-resistant, making phage treatments a promising alternative.

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kottke.org

Jason Kottke's weblog, home of fine hypertext products

Illustrator Chris Piascik has made several of his...

Illustrator Chris Piascik has made several of his “Fuck ICE”/”No Kings” pieces available for free, high-res download. Print them out and use them for protest signs.

💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org

Stamps: Graphic Art in Miniature

On his Filatelia Grafica Instagram account, graphic designer Diego Bucciero shares some of his favorite postage stamps, with an emphasis on “iconography, form, typography and branding”. (via it’s nice that)

Tags: design · Diego Bucciero · stamps

💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org

Wel.nl

Minder lezen, Meer weten.

Van der Poel is met achtste wereldtitel veldrijden recordhouder

HULST (ANP) - Mathieu van der Poel is in het Zeeuwse Hulst voor de achtste keer, en voor de vierde keer op rij, wereldkampioen veldrijden geworden. Hij maakte halverwege de tweede van acht ronden het verschil met de rest van het veld en bouwde zijn voorsprong uit tot 35 seconden aan de eindstreep. Zijn landgenoot Tibor Del Grosso werd tweede, voor de Belg Thibau Nys.

Met de achtste titel is de Nederlander nu alleen recordhouder. De Belg Erik De Vlaeminck werd in de jaren zestig en zeventig zeven keer wereldkampioen. De Vlaeminck heeft wel nog altijd het record van de meeste titels op rij (zes). Bij de vrouwen heeft Marianne Vos ook acht wereldtitels in het veld.


Oliekartel OPEC+ draait kraan niet verder open

LONDEN (ANP) - Oliekartel OPEC+ houdt de olieproductie opnieuw ongewijzigd. Dat maakte de organisatie, met Saudi-Arabië en Rusland als belangrijkste leden, zondag bekend.

OPEC+ besloot in november al de oliekraan voorlopig niet verder open te draaien om de olieprijs te ondersteunen. Eerder in 2025 werd de productie juist opgevoerd om marktaandeel te winnen van andere olieproducenten, vooral in de Verenigde Staten.

De olieprijzen zijn dit jaar tot nu toe bijna 13 procent gestegen. Vorige week gingen de olieprijzen hard omhoog nadat president Donald Trump Iran, een van de leden van het oliekartel, waarschuwde een nucleair akkoord te sluiten of anders met militaire acties te worden geconfronteerd.


Alcaraz dankt aanwezige Nadal na gewonnen Australian Open-finale

MELBOURNE (ANP/AFP) - Carlos Alcaraz haalde veel kracht en inspiratie uit de aanwezigheid van landgenoot Rafael Nadal bij zijn gewonnen Australian Open-finale. "Dit is een heel speciaal moment, een droom die uitkomt. En om eerlijk te zijn maakte de aanwezigheid van 'Rafa' het nog bijzonderder", zei Alcaraz (22) na zijn eerste titel in Melbourne, waardoor de Spanjaard nu als jongste ooit alle vier de grandslamtoernooien heeft gewonnen.

Alcaraz moest vrijdag in zijn halve finale diep gaan tegen Alexander Zverev, een vijfsetter die meer dan vijf uur duurde. De nummer 1 van de wereld haalde richting de finale tegen Novak Djokovic inspiratie uit de halve finale van Nadal tegen landgenoot Fernando Verdasco op de Australian Open van 2009, die ook meer dan vijf uur duurde.

"Daar moest ik aan denken na mijn halve finale. Hoe Rafa daar fysiek gezien van herstelde en in een geweldige finale Roger Federer versloeg. Ik moest vandaag ook doorbijten. Soms keek ik naar Rafa en dan gaf hij me goede energie", zei Alcaraz.


Saudi-Arabië boekt sterkste economische groei in drie jaar

RIYAD (ANP/BLOOMBERG) - De economie van Saudi-Arabië groeide in 2025 in het hoogste tempo in drie jaar, met de oliesector als belangrijkste groeimotor. Het bruto binnenlands product (bbp) steeg met 4,5 procent, volgens voorlopige cijfers van het nationale statistiekbureau die zondag werden gepubliceerd.

In het vierde kwartaal bedroeg de groei bijna 5 procent. Staatsoliemaatschappij Saudi Aramco produceert sinds medio 2025 meer ruwe olie. Dit maakt deel uit van de door oliekartel OPEC+ afgesproken productieverhogingen, onder leiding van Saudi-Arabië en Rusland. Het land produceerde in de laatste drie maanden van vorig jaar ongeveer 10 miljoen vaten per dag, het hoogste niveau sinds begin 2023.

Vorige week gingen de olieprijzen flink omhoog als gevolg van oplopende geopolitieke spanningen tussen Iran, Israël en de Verenigde Staten. Hoewel een aanhoudende stijging van de olieprijs de Saudische economie versterkt, kan een nieuwe escalatie de groei van de bredere economie vertragen.


Rijnmond - Nieuws

Het laatste nieuws van vandaag over Rotterdam, Feyenoord, het verkeer en het weer in de regio Rijnmond

PSV spaart Feyenoord, maar vergroot druk op Van Persie en Te Kloese

Hoelang mag Feyenoord blijven aanmodderen zonder dat er wordt ingegrepen? Het is de grote vraag na de zoveelste blamage van dit seizoen. Op bezoek bij PSV keek de ploeg van Robin van Persie na een ruim kwartier al tegen een 3-0 achterstand aan. Daar bleef het bij, omdat PSV medelijden leek te hebben met de Rotterdammers.

Deze artiest zingt dit jaar You’ll Never Walk Alone bij de marathon: ‘Een enorme eer’

Berget Lewis zingt dit jaar 'You'll Never Walk Alone' vlak voor de start van de NN Marathon van Rotterdam. Na meer dan 30 jaar stopte Lee Towers in 2024 en sinds vorig jaar zal het beroemde lied door iemand anders gezongen worden. De zangeres van de Ladies of Soul neemt op 12 april het stokje over van Francis van Broekhuizen.

Overleden man (49) onder verdachte omstandigheden aangetroffen in woning in Schiedam

In een woning in Schiedam is een 49-jarige man donderdag onder verdachte omstandigheden overleden aangetroffen. Vermoedelijk is het slachtoffer eerder deze week overleden, meldt de politie zondag. Zij sluit een misdrijf niet uit en doet onderzoek.

The Guardian

Latest news, sport, business, comment, analysis and reviews from the Guardian, the world's leading liberal voice

Crystal Palace agree £48m deal for Strand Larsen as Liverpool eye Geertruida move

  • Wolves accept Palace’s £48m bid; Mateta wants Milan

  • Slot keen on bulking up squad with versatile defender

Crystal Palace have had a £48m bid for Jørgen Strand Larsen accepted by Wolves, after the south London club reignited their interest in the striker.

The Norway international, who joined Wolves on a permanent deal from Celta Vigo last summer for £23m, has scored one Premier League goal this season. The 25-year-old was a substitute for Wolves’s 2-0 home defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday.

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Democrat flips reliably red Texas district in victory that stuns Republican party

Taylor Rehmet’s win adds to Democrats’ record of overperforming in special elections so far this cycle

Democrat Taylor Rehmet won a special election for the Texas state senate on Saturday, flipping a reliably Republican district that Donald Trump won by 17 points when he clinched a second presidency in 2024.

Rehmet, a labor union leader and veteran, easily defeated Republican Leigh Wambsganss, a conservative activist, in the Fort Worth-area district. With almost all votes counted, Rehmet had a comfortable lead of more than 14 percentage points.

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Death toll from Crans-Montana bar fire rises to 41

Eighteen-year-old Swiss national injured in blaze at Swiss ski resort died on Saturday

A teenager injured in the fire that engulfed a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana during new year celebrations has died in hospital, taking the death toll from the blaze to 41.

The Wallis canton’s public prosecutor, Beatrice Pilloud, said in a brief statement on Sunday: “An 18-year-old Swiss national died at a hospital in Zurich on January 31. The death toll from the fire at Le Constellation bar on January 1 2026 has now risen to 41.”

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Pakistan targets Balochistan separatists after ‘unprecedented’ assaults

Officials say calm restored to province day after dozens killed in suicide and gun attacks in at least 10 cities

Pakistan’s security forces have intensified their operations against separatist militants in Balochistan province who launched a majorassault on Saturday in which at least 31 civilians and 17 security personnel were killed.

A day after the militants carried out suicide attacks in the heart of the province’s capital, Quetta, the chief minister of the south-western region, Sarfraz Bugti, said 145 people he described as militants had been killed in 40 hours and that their bodies were in the custody of the authorities.

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‘You can never forget’: a woman remembers her three brothers, who the IRA murdered one by one

Pam Morrison, 78, has little hope of justice for the deaths of Ronnie, Cecil and Jimmy during Northern Ireland’s troubles

When the gunmen came for Jimmy Graham they were thorough. They fired the first two shots as he parked his bus in the school yard, then boarded the bus and fired another 24 shots. As the killers sped away they whooped in delight. “Yahoo,” they screamed. “Yahoo.”

It was 1 February 1985 and the IRA team had special reason to celebrate: it had bagged a third Graham brother. They had killed Ronnie Graham in June 1981, Cecil Graham in November 1981 and now, just over three years later, they got Jimmy. A hat-trick.

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America’s contract to protect white woman has always been tenuous | Saida Grundy

ICE’s killing of Renee Good has revealed how the state will only defend those who uphold a white racial order. A 1915 film points to the origins of this social pact

In the hours after the 7 January fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old Minneapolis mother of three, gut-wrenching footage of her killing was released, discrediting initial claims from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and the Department of Justice that she was shot in self-defense. As a response to the public outcry, the Trump administration and a chorus of conservative public figures unleashed a litany of dehumanizing and defamatory remarks about Good, a beloved wife, neighbor and dental assistant, in ways that were unduly callous.

The Fox News host Jesse Watters derided Good’s queer identity, and mocked her as a “self-proclaimed poet from Colorado with pronouns in her bio”. The homeland security secretary Kristi Noem vilified Good as a domestic terrorist who “weaponized” her vehicle in an attempt to run over officers – a patently false comment. Laura Loomer, a personal adviser to the president, posted to social media, “She deserved it … I’m shocked her lesbian girlfriend wasn’t shot with her.” JD Vance lobbed the biting accusation that the victim was “a deranged leftist”, before adding that “it’s a tragedy of her own making”. Donald Trump justified the shooting, telling reporters that “at a very minimum, that woman was very, very disrespectful to law enforcement”. And on 17 January, the justice department announced a criminal investigation into claims tying her grieving widow, Becca Good, to unnamed “activist groups” (six federal prosecutors resigned in objection to the investigation).

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Sure, kids can be annoying – but making public spaces ‘child-free’ is wrong | Emma Beddington

The French rail operator SNCF has recently installed new ‘adults-only’ carriages. It’s part of a sad culture of suppressing the young that forgets we were all loud and carefree once

As a disapproving, noise-sensitive harpy who once managed to communicate “use headphones” to an Italian tween on a train despite us not sharing a common language, I ought to be the ideal candidate for the French rail operator SNCF’s new “Optimum”, no-kids-allowed carriages. The service was promoted last month as a civilised space in which executives could conduct important business in cosseted peace, unmolested by sticky fingers or La Pat’ Patrouille (Paw Patrol) blaring from an iPad.

Actually, though, I hate it – and a heartening number of other people seem to be hating it, too. The initiative sparked widespread indignation in France (the high commissioner for children, Sarah El Haïry, called it “shocking”) and beyond, leading SNCF to partly backtrack, changing the original “children are not allowed” wording to say the space is only inaccessible to under-12s.

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And We Both Know the Rent Don't Pay Itself

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

And We Both Know the Rent Don't Pay Itself

You're Frozen, No One Seems to Notice

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

You're Frozen, No One Seems to Notice

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The Register

Biting the hand that feeds IT — Enterprise Technology News and Analysis

AI security startup CEO posts a job. Deepfake candidate applies, inner turmoil ensues.

'I did not think it was going to happen to me, but here we are'

Nearly every company, from tech giants like Amazon to small startups, has first-hand experience with fake IT workers applying for jobs - and sometimes even being hired. …