Today I Learned:
1) Not all toothpaste contains diatoms! Erik Jue and I were curious about what the solvent in toothpaste is (water, glycerine, SLS), and I noticed that the toothpaste had no calcium carbonate in it. I thought all toothpaste was calcium carbonate, but apparently lots of it is made from silica or other abrasives instead.
2) Membrane proteins, for some reason, tend to be toxic to cells when expressed in high quantities. Perhaps it’s because having lots of one membrane protein disrupts membrane fluidity? In any case, this little tidbit makes me suspect that cell membranes are more carefully balanced machines than I thought.
3) Yellow fever is a truly terrible disease. Most of the time, it’s not *so* bad — it’s basically like a bad flu. About 15% of the time, though, it’s basically slightly less deadly (but no less gruesome) ebola, right down to the disintegrating soft tissues everywhere. I’ve heard of yellow fever plenty, mostly in the context of explorers coming down with it… now I know what kind of symptoms that disease implies.
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