Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Space - the final frontier? At least, for Google!!

This morning a weird thing happened as I opened my Gmail. Prominent on a yellow band at the top of this page was this terrifying message:

You are almost out of space for your Gmail account. Once you have run out of space, you will not be able to send or receive any emails until you delete some items. You can view our tips on reducing your email storage or purchase additional storage.

It made me almost jump out of my skin. Can this be? I scrolled down, and sure enough, my account is, it says, 94% full, and I am apparently Using 7212 MB of (my) 7616 MB.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Alcohol pwns inflammation; Or, saga of alcohol dehydrogenase from Aspergillus

Aspergillus fumigatus and various other Aspergilli are ubiquitous molds. These are hardy aerobic saprotrophs, growing as easily on breads and potatoes as on plants and trees. However, many Aspergilli are capable of growing in nutrient-deficient or nutrient-absent environments, and surviving in extreme conditions, such as high temperature (up to 55oC) and pH; for example, A. niger, the Black Mold, can grow happily on damp walls. I have observed A. fumigatus grow on the surface of a highly alkaline buffer (pH9; one of the pH meter standards).