Technologies

Sharpest images of living bacteria reveal unexpected membrane structure

The images are so clear that scientists can see proteins on a bacterium’s outer membrane.

Using a microscopy technique that pulls back the curtain on the nanoscale world, researchers have generated the sharpest images of live bacteria ever taken. The high-resolution snaps reveal a patchwork of proteins that make up the outer membrane and, potentially, give scientists a new way to attack the organisms.

In a study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from the US and UK provide images of the rod-shaped bacterium Escherichia Coli, which is commonly found in our gastrointestinal tracts and helps digest food. It’s a mostly harmless citizen of our guts, but certain E. Coli strains can cause severe illness. In recent years, scientists have shown that these strains are becoming more resistant to antibiotics.

The bacteria are, of course, incredibly tiny. About 150 to 300 individual bacteria could probably fit head-to-toe across the period at the end of this sentence. While regular microscopes can see the bacteria as clumps of rods scattered all across a glass slide, they don’t give us a good idea of the structure of a bacterium’s body and the outer membrane that protects it from our drugs.

«The outer membrane is a formidable barrier against antibiotics and is an important factor in making infectious bacteria resistant to medical treatment,» Bart Hoogenboom, a nanotechnologist at University College London and co-author on the paper, said in a press release. Hoogenboom and his team wanted to take a much closer look and turned to «atomic force microscopy» to study the membrane in greater detail.

Atomic Force Microscopy, or AFM, is a powerful technique to study objects that are just nanometers in length. (A nanometer is a millionth of a millimeter.) Hooked up to a computer, the device can study the surface of tiny, tiny objects by running a fine-tipped probe, just a few nanometers wide, across the surface. The probe moves along the object — whether it’s a microbe, a piece of bone or another nanomaterial — and can sense the undulations present. You can imagine it kind of like a turntable stylus, moving along the grooves of a vinyl record. Totally different process but similar concept.

When the team ran the AFM probe over the surface of a living E. Coli bacterium, they discovered it was a mosaic of proteins. Most areas of the outer membrane were covered in mostly immobile proteins, but there were also islands that lacked any protein at all and were instead full of sugary lipid molecules.

«This suggests that the barrier may not be equally hard to breach or stretch all over the bacterium, but may have stronger and weaker spots that can also be targeted by antibiotics,» Hoogenboom said.

Outer membranes are present on what’s known as «gram-negative» bacteria, like E coli, and not gram-positive bacteria, like Staphylococcus. The «gram» doesn’t refer to weight, but a specific test designed to quickly differentiate bacteria based on their cell walls. Notably, gram-negative bacteria have a more impenetrable cell wall, which makes it hard for antibiotics to get in and work to destroy the microbes.

Antibiotic resistance makes infectious diseases harder to treat and can turn common infections into life-threatening scourges. Many antibiotic resistant infections are picked up in hospitals, and the World Health Organization has consistently listed antibiotic resistance as a global health threat over the past few years because it has the potential to upend health care systems.

How the protein patchwork of the outer membrane might affect the strength of a bacteria’s protective covering or how it could help combat antibiotic resistance is not yet known. But with advanced microscopy techniques, scientists can shine a light on a previously unseen realm.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Dec. 25 #662

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Dec. 25, No. 662.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle has a holiday theme, and if you know a certain Christmas carol, you’ll quickly determine which words to hunt down. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Carolers count.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Five golden rings.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

RIMS, HIMS, MARS, CHIME, CHIMES, MADS, DATE, DIAL, WAIL

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

LORDS, MAIDS, SWANS, LADIES, PIPERS, DRUMMERS

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is CHRISTMASDAYS. To find it, look for the C that’s three letters down on the far-left row, and wind across.

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Toughest Strands puzzles

Here are some of the Strands topics I’ve found to be the toughest in recent weeks.

#1: Dated slang, Jan. 21. Maybe you didn’t even use this lingo when it was cool. Toughest word: PHAT.

#2: Thar she blows! Jan.15. I guess marine biologists might ace this one. Toughest word: BALEEN or RIGHT.

#3: Off the hook, Jan. 9. Similar to the Jan. 15 puzzle in that it helps to know a lot about sea creatures. Sorry, Charlie. Toughest word: BIGEYE or SKIPJACK.

Technologies

Judge Blocks Texas App Store Age-Check Law

A preliminary injunction found the Texas law, set to begin Jan. 1, is «more likely than not unconstitutional.»

A new Texas state law set to take effect on Jan. 1 would have required app stores to implement age verification processes. But the law has been put on hold, at least temporarily, by a federal court judge.

As reported by the Texas Tribune, Senate Bill 2420, also known as the Texas App Store Accountability Act, is the subject of a temporary injunction issued by US District Judge Robert Pitman.

Pitman said in his decision that the law as written is broad, vague and «more likely than not unconstitutional.» However, he also wrote the court «recognizes the importance of ongoing efforts to better safeguard children when they are on their devices.»

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The Texas law, signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott in May, requires app store operators — including Apple, Google, Nintendo, Steam and more — to build age verification processes for the storefronts and to only allow downloads to minors who obtain parental consent. The injunction is a ruling in an October lawsuit filed by the Computer & Communication Industry Association.

CCIA senior vice president Stephanie Joyce said in a statement, «This Order stops the Texas App Store Accountability Act from taking effect in order to preserve the First Amendment rights of app stores, app developers, parents, and younger internet users. It also protects parents’ inviolate right to use their own judgment in safeguarding their children online using the myriad tools our members provide.»

Other individuals and the advocacy group Students Engaged in Advancing Texas also filed suits over the law, the Texas Tribune reported.

App Store Accountability Act

The bill author, State Senator Angela Paxton, said the bill was meant to give parents «common sense tools to protect their kids and to survive court challenges by those who may have lesser priorities.»

The language of Texas Senate Bill 2420 does not only include mobile app stores from Apple or Google, but any «website, software application, or other electronic service that distributes software applications from the owner or developer of a software application to the user of a mobile device.»

By that definition, websites with links to browser games or mobile game consoles with download options would fall under the Texas law as written. The law also defines mobile devices as including phones and tablets, as well as any other handheld device capable of transmitting or storing information wirelessly.

The parental consent aspect of the law requires those under 18 to have an app store account affiliated with a parent or guardian to purchase or download applications.

Age verification elsewhere

In an effort to keep adult materials out of reach of minors and to protect children from potentially harmful content and interactions, tech companies have been compelled by law or through legal action to verify the age of users.

Roblox, which has a huge audience of minors, began rolling out stricter age verification after investigations and lawsuits hurt its reputation as a safe gaming space. Australia is perhaps the most large-scale example of a government restricting access to online content. In December, Australia began restricting social media access to those 16 and older. Reddit recently challenged that law.

In the US, age verification laws have primarily targeted adult sites. Texas already has a law on the books that requires adult sites to age-block their content. The Supreme Court upheld that law in a June ruling. The UK has also enacted age restriction rules for adult sites as have other US states.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Thursday, Dec. 25

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Dec. 25.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Of course, there’s a very Christmassy clue involved. And once you solve the entire puzzle, look at the letters used in all the answers and see what they have in common. (5-Across will tell you!) Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.