Iron overload disease causes rapid growth of potentially deadly bacteria

Every summer, the news reports on a bacterium called Vibrio vulnificus found in warm saltwater that causes people to get sick, or die, after they eat raw tainted shellfish or when an open wound comes in contact with seawater.

People with a weakened immune system, chronic liver disease or iron overload disease are most at risk for severe illness. Vibrio vulnificus infections in high-risk individuals are fatal 50 percent of the time.

Now, researchers at UCLA have figured out why those with iron overload disease are so vulnerable. People with the common genetic iron overload disease called hereditary hemochromatosis have a deficiency of the iron-regulating hormone hepcidin and thus develop excess iron in their blood and tissue, providing prime growth conditions for Vibrio vulnificus.

The study also found that minihepcidin, a medicinal form of the hormone hepcidin that lowers iron levels in blood, could cure the infection by restricting bacterial growth.

The early findings were reported online Jan. 14 in the journal Cell Host and Microbe.

"This is the first time that the association of hepcidin deficiency and susceptibility to Vibrio vulnificus infection was tested," said senior author Dr. Yonca Bulut, a clinical professor of pediatrics at Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA and a researcher with the UCLA Children's Discovery and Innovation Institute. "The dramatic effectiveness of the new treatment, even after the infection was established, was impressive."

To conduct the study, researchers compared the fatality of Vibrio vulnificus infection in healthy mice with mice that lacked hepcidin, modeling human hereditary hemochromatosis. The results showed that the infection was much more lethal in hepcidin-deficient mice because they could not decrease iron levels in the blood in response to infection, a process mediated by hepcidin in healthy mice.

Giving minihepcidin to susceptible hepcidin-deficient mice to lower the amount of iron in the blood prevented infection if the hormone was given before the Vibrio vulnificus was introduced. Additionally, mice given minihepcidin three hours after the bacterium was introduced were cured of any infection.

Hereditary hemochromatosis is a genetic disease that causes the body to absorb and store too much iron. It affects as many as 1 in every 200 people in the United States. Since it can take decades for the body to store damaging levels of iron, many people may not be aware that they have the disease until signs of the condition begin to appear later in life.

The co-directors of the UCLA Center for Iron Disorders, Dr. Tomas Ganz, a professor of medicine and pathology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and Elizabeta Nemeth, a professor of medicine at UCLA, led the invention of minihepcidins at UCLA. Minihepcidins are being developed for treatment of iron-overload disorders, such as hereditary hemochromatosis and Cooley's anemia. The use of minihepcidin to treat potentially lethal infections is a possible new application.

"We found that hepcidin is required for resistance to a Vibrio vulnificus infection," said the study's lead author Joao Arezes, a visiting graduate student from the University of Porto in Portugal. "The development of the treatment tested in mouse models could reduce the high mortality rate of this disease."

The next stage of research is to understand why Vibrio vulnificus bacteria become so lethal when iron levels are high, and to learn which other microbes respond similarly to excess iron.

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences . The original article was written by Amy Albin. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Crowdfunded Magazine Celebrates Queer Science Fiction

courtesy Lightspeed

The sci-fi world is periodically roiled by complaints that various groups are “destroying science fiction” by writing about their own identities and concerns at the expense of a strict focus on orbital mechanics. Last year Lightspeed magazine, published by Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy producer John Joseph Adams, responded with a crowdfunded special issue called Women Destroy Science Fiction!, which celebrates the contributions of women in the field. This month Lightspeed is launching a second Kickstarter to fund Queers Destroy Science Fiction!, which will feature stories and essays by queer authors and fans.

“If you’re a straight person wondering what all the fuss is about, I think those essays are really going to do a lot to open your eyes to what queer people have had to deal with throughout their lives,” Adams says in Episode 133 of the Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast.

The issue is currently open to submissions, with popular author Seanan McGuire serving as guest editor. McGuire identifies as a panromantic demisexual, meaning she’s attracted to all genders but only feels sexual attraction in the case of a strong emotional bond. Demisexual is a recently coined term for an identity that McGuire says is often marginalized even within the queer community. She agreed to edit Queers Destroy Science Fiction! partly to ensure that the magazine would include the widest possible range of queer identities.

“You have just a huge number of folks who identify as asexual or demisexual thanking us for acknowledging that they exist,” she says.

The issue will also feature reprints chosen by Steve Berman, a leading figure in the field of gay speculative fiction, who’s edited dozens of anthologies and published nearly a hundred articles and stories. He’s hoping the project meets every stretch goal so that he gets lots of new material to read.

“I’m just excited about the whole process because I can’t lose,” he says. “I’m the target audience here, and I just can’t wait to see what people submit.”

Listen to our complete interview with John Joseph Adams, Seanan McGuire, and Steve Berman in Episode 133 of the Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast (above), and check out some highlights from the discussion below.

Steve Berman on gay fiction:

“One of the problems with gay men writing was that they were writing under pseudonyms, often, because they were hiding their identities from their families. If they passed away during the plague years of HIV, it’s hard to get the rights to reprint their work—the rights could have been reverted to family that didn’t want to be associated with it, or we just don’t know what their real names are. So there are a number of older gay and lesbian science fiction works that are no longer in print. I know that the first gay short story I ever read was when I was 18, and it was Clive Barker‘s ‘In the Hills, The Cities,’ and I had no idea that Clive Barker was gay—I don’t even think that he had come out at that point—and it just struck me, here are two characters that are gay, and their sexuality is completely incidental to the story. And I remember I was in college, freshman year, and I was so excited about this story, because it was just so powerful, that I handed it off to one of my dormmates, and his immediate reaction was, ‘Wait, wait. These are gay people,’ and he couldn’t read the story because of that. But it showed me that there were gay people in horror.”

Seanan McGuire on Dumbledore:

“I do not consider Dumbledore to be successful representation. If you have to tell me after the fact that you should get credit for having gay content because this character, whose romantic life was never, ever, ever, never, ever, ever once mentioned, really liked the same gender—no, you failed. I love J.K. Rowling, I love Harry Potter, she does not get credit for that, any more than she gets credit for having Jewish inclusion because she recently mentioned that there was one Jewish wizard at Hogwarts. You know what? No. Show me the Jewish wizard at Hogwarts having serious philosophical issues with, ‘Can I cast spells on the Sabbath?’ Show me the kitchen dealing with the ramifications of preparing kosher food when you can’t bring a rabbi in but everybody else is getting meat. It does not work. Dumbledore is not successful representation. … You do not get credit for Dumbledore. That is not even doing the bare minimum.”

Steve Berman on gay characters:

“The most obvious way to identify someone as queer is to show them making out, etc. … Part of the reason why we’re doing the special issue is so that we don’t have to code. You don’t have to worry about gay characters passing as straight. I remember that one of my favorite fantasy series growing up was The Rose of the Prophet series by Weis and Hickman. It was an Arabian Nights-style [story], and there was a gay character in the trilogy, but I was always unsatisfied because he had to remain chaste and celibate and alone—unrequited love—and for years I just sort of accepted that. And then I realized that Hickman is a Mormon, and so this was a case of ‘love the sinner, hate the sin.’ And so he was OK with presenting a gay character, but the character could not have a homosexual relationship.”

John Joseph Adams on hostility to queer characters:

“On the most basic level it’s sad, and it’s very upsetting, and there have been times—there was at least one review for The End is Nigh which was complaining about the sexuality of the characters, and the language that the person used was such that I was like, ‘I know you’re not supposed to reply to reviews, but I kind of feel like I could reach this guy.’ Like if we just engaged him we could reach him, because he seemed like he wasn’t a full-on bigot, you know? This was just some sort of gut reaction he was having where he was not enjoying the stories because of that, but there was something about the way he put it where I was like, ‘I think if we actually made the right case to him we could convince him, we could show him the error of his ways, why that’s wrong-headed thinking.’ And ultimately—I didn’t do it—but some colleagues of mine thought it was worthwhile, and so tried to engage him, but I don’t think the guy ever replied. But the thing is, there’s so little chance that you’re ever going to convince anybody with that sort of thing. If what you’re doing is presenting them with fiction, and in these stories you’re getting into the hearts and minds of these characters that are queer, and the reader still isn’t convinced that that’s worthwhile, you’re never going to convince them by just arguing with them.”

While You Were Offline: Murder, She Wrote Gets a Surreal Supercut

After the horrific start to the year, the second week of 2015 makes it feel like this might not be the worst twelve months of our existence yet, with some light breaking through the grim clouds of current events. Which isn’t to say that this was a week free of (deserved) outrage, of course; this is the Internet, after all, and there were Oscar nominations to be announced. Nonetheless, it wasn’t all doom and gloom, as you’ll see below. For once, here are some genuine highlights (and important lowlights) of the last seven days on this wild web we all call home.

Jessica Fletcher Gets It (Eventually)

What Happened: The “classic” (read “old”) detective show Murder, She Wrote got a master edit that brought out the “Too Many Cooks” in Angela Lansbury.

Where It Blew Up: Twitter, blogs

What Really Happened: Really, we’re not sure there’s too much to add to the experience beyond… well, just watch (above). This supercut is the work of Isaac Royffe, a filmmaker who’s worked for MTV, Pitchfork, and Ghost Robot (you can see some of his less, uh, Angela Lansbury work here). Quite why he felt the need to unleash this upon the world, we don’t know, but it’s one of the more weirdly hypnotic and unsettling things we’ve seen in quite some time. Who knew that Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast could turn out to be quite so disturbing when edited in a certain way?

The Takeaway: Suddenly, we have the strangest desire to binge-watch all 12 years’ worth of Murder, She Wrote, if only to find out if there’s any more context to these scenes. When will someone do the same for all those “Just one last thing” scenes from Columbo? Isaac…?

#JeSuisCharlie (Reprise)

What Happened: The first issue of Charlie Hebdo since the terrorist attack that killed 12 staff members at the magazine was published, with another controversial cover.

Where It Blew Up: Twitter, blogs, media think pieces

What Really Happened: This week’s issue of Charlie Hebdo was already primed to be an event, with 5 million copies printed to meet the increased demand following the tragic attack on the magazine’s offices Jan. 7. The magazine’s choice of cover for the issue—again featuring a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad holding a sign saying “Je Suis Charlie,” the meme that showed solidarity with the magazine in the wake of the attack—prompted a lot of discussion, unsurprisingly.

Cartoonist Tom Humberstone wondered if the cartoons were too clumsy in their satire, while French journalist Guillemette Faure suggested the magazine was being unfairly lauded in response to the attack. Cartoonist Luz, responsible for the new cover, explained that his image was “aimed at intelligent people, who are much more numerous than you think, whether they’re atheists, Catholics [or] Muslims,” but not everyone was convinced. The cover was condemned by many countries with majority Muslim populations (Turkey even banned website pages showing it, while African newspapers have apologized for printing images of it).

The Takeaway: Somehow, a jokey “well, satire is supposed to make people uncomfortable, right?” feels not only unworthy, but also offensively trite, given the context. This is an extremely complicated and loaded issue, with no “right side” beyond “Hey, maybe killing people because of a cartoon is a horrific overreaction.” Free speech is important, as is the freedom of satire and comedy, but when dealing with such important, sacred images, there’s surely a responsibility to ensure that the comedy is as sharp (and respectful) as possible to ensure that those offended are the targets of your derision. What happened to the Charlie Hebdo staff was a tragedy, but given the attention they’ve received as a result, they have a duty to step up and try to become satirists worthy of the the canonization they’re currently receiving from those defending their cause. Of course, that’s hardly likely to be an easy, or fast, process.

Nobody’s Happy With The Oscar Nominations

What Happened: The nominations for this year’s Academy Awards were announced, and almost no one was happy.

Where It Blew Up: Twitter, blogs, media think pieces

What Really Happened: Thursday saw the announcement of this year’s Academy Award nominations, which of course triggered an immediate reaction from … well, everyone who wanted something else to be nominated, instead. It wasn’t just outraged tweets that ended up resulting from the snubs, however; they also provoked a number of think pieces analyzing their impact. None of this should be a surprise, mind you; every single year, there is upset over who and what got overlooked by the Academy. You’d think, by now, we would have learned to accept that the Oscars denote little other than the tastes of a very specific (albeit, amazingly influential) audience, and do not actually reflect on the quality of those nominated or snubbed, and yet, every year, we find ourselves outraged and upset that stories about white men’s struggles are celebrated over almost anything and everything else.

The Takeaway: Really, this tweet from Transparent creator Jill Soloway probably puts it most succinctly:

So. Anyone up for starting our own, alternative Academy Awards next year?

Candy Everybody Wants (But Not Like That)

What Happened: British sweet manufacturer Cadbury decided to make some changes to the recipe and packaging of their (admittedly, almost iconic) Creme Eggs, and this was apparently the last straw for many.

Where It Blew Up: Twitter, blogs, media think pieces

What Really Happened: The beloved institution that is Cadbury’s Creme Eggs is under attack. Well, more like “it’s being changed slightly, with Cadbury deciding to redesign the packaging and change the recipe for the chocolate shell in the UK,” but apparently even that is enough to send people into a sugar-rush-fueled panic, with news reports of a “nation in shock” as a result. “Our favorite chocolate has been ruined,” tweeted one fan, while the Guardian newspaper called the new egg “nothing less than an abomination”. There is, of course, a #CremeEggGate hashtag on social media in response, because the Internet.

The Takeaway: People, it’s only chocolate. And more importantly, it’s only gross chocolate. Yeah, we said it. Also, we’re in the US, so these changes don’t impact us in the slightest. Hell, change the whole thing! Make the eggs square! Fill them with candied ginger! Actually, that might make them worth eating.

More Than 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover

What Happened: Someone created the Twitter hashtag #FiveWordsToRuinADate. Hilarity ensued.

Where It Blew Up: Twitter

What Really Happened: An Irish DJ is claiming credit for the meme that overtook Twitter this week, and given how enjoyable the results ended up being, let’s be generous and grant him the plaudits. It’s a premise so simple that the hashtag fully explains it: what five words could someone say that would ruin a date? Well, let’s see…

Many, many more can be found here.

The Takeaway: Could this be a social media meme that actually worked? That can’t be right; we have almost no doubt someone will have managed to destroy the goodwill of this one by the time you’re reading these words.

Twitter Finally Lives Up To Its Potential

What Happened: If you’ve ever thought “If only someone would create a Choose Your Own Adventure game on Twitter, where you jump between accounts depending on what choice you’ve made…” then this just so happens to be your lucky day.

Where It Blew Up: Twitter, blogs

What Really Happened: Last weekend, a Twitter account called “A Dreadful Start” appeared, and posted one tweet:

It was the start of something wonderful: a Choose Your Own Adventure game that ran across multiple Twitter accounts, offering you the chance to make some (admittedly, pretty basic) decisions about what to do in case of emergency. It turned out to be the work of Terence Eden, who explained his process here. Understandably, people were entranced, and soon lots and lots and lots of people were taking notice. They should; it’s endlessly entertaining.

The Takeaway: We’ve seen longform Twitter essays and longform Twitter fiction, so why not longform Twitter multi-path adventures? For something as short as it is—there are only 23 “decisions” to be made—this is kind of genius … and also an easy way to waste even more time on Twitter. Sorry.

Crowdfunded Magazine Celebrates Queer Science Fiction

courtesy Lightspeed

The sci-fi world is periodically roiled by complaints that various groups are “destroying science fiction” by writing about their own identities and concerns at the expense of a strict focus on orbital mechanics. Last year Lightspeed magazine, published by Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy producer John Joseph Adams, responded with a crowdfunded special issue called Women Destroy Science Fiction!, which celebrates the contributions of women in the field. This month Lightspeed is launching a second Kickstarter to fund Queers Destroy Science Fiction!, which will feature stories and essays by queer authors and fans.

“If you’re a straight person wondering what all the fuss is about, I think those essays are really going to do a lot to open your eyes to what queer people have had to deal with throughout their lives,” Adams says in Episode 133 of the Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast.

The issue is currently open to submissions, with popular author Seanan McGuire serving as guest editor. McGuire identifies as a panromantic demisexual, meaning she’s attracted to all genders but only feels sexual attraction in the case of a strong emotional bond. Demisexual is a recently coined term for an identity that McGuire says is often marginalized even within the queer community. She agreed to edit Queers Destroy Science Fiction! partly to ensure that the magazine would include the widest possible range of queer identities.

“You have just a huge number of folks who identify as asexual or demisexual thanking us for acknowledging that they exist,” she says.

The issue will also feature reprints chosen by Steve Berman, a leading figure in the field of gay speculative fiction, who’s edited dozens of anthologies and published nearly a hundred articles and stories. He’s hoping the project meets every stretch goal so that he gets lots of new material to read.

“I’m just excited about the whole process because I can’t lose,” he says. “I’m the target audience here, and I just can’t wait to see what people submit.”

Listen to our complete interview with John Joseph Adams, Seanan McGuire, and Steve Berman in Episode 133 of the Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast (above), and check out some highlights from the discussion below.

Steve Berman on gay fiction:

“One of the problems with gay men writing was that they were writing under pseudonyms, often, because they were hiding their identities from their families. If they passed away during the plague years of HIV, it’s hard to get the rights to reprint their work—the rights could have been reverted to family that didn’t want to be associated with it, or we just don’t know what their real names are. So there are a number of older gay and lesbian science fiction works that are no longer in print. I know that the first gay short story I ever read was when I was 18, and it was Clive Barker‘s ‘In the Hills, The Cities,’ and I had no idea that Clive Barker was gay—I don’t even think that he had come out at that point—and it just struck me, here are two characters that are gay, and their sexuality is completely incidental to the story. And I remember I was in college, freshman year, and I was so excited about this story, because it was just so powerful, that I handed it off to one of my dormmates, and his immediate reaction was, ‘Wait, wait. These are gay people,’ and he couldn’t read the story because of that. But it showed me that there were gay people in horror.”

Seanan McGuire on Dumbledore:

“I do not consider Dumbledore to be successful representation. If you have to tell me after the fact that you should get credit for having gay content because this character, whose romantic life was never, ever, ever, never, ever, ever once mentioned, really liked the same gender—no, you failed. I love J.K. Rowling, I love Harry Potter, she does not get credit for that, any more than she gets credit for having Jewish inclusion because she recently mentioned that there was one Jewish wizard at Hogwarts. You know what? No. Show me the Jewish wizard at Hogwarts having serious philosophical issues with, ‘Can I cast spells on the Sabbath?’ Show me the kitchen dealing with the ramifications of preparing kosher food when you can’t bring a rabbi in but everybody else is getting meat. It does not work. Dumbledore is not successful representation. … You do not get credit for Dumbledore. That is not even doing the bare minimum.”

Steve Berman on gay characters:

“The most obvious way to identify someone as queer is to show them making out, etc. … Part of the reason why we’re doing the special issue is so that we don’t have to code. You don’t have to worry about gay characters passing as straight. I remember that one of my favorite fantasy series growing up was The Rose of the Prophet series by Weis and Hickman. It was an Arabian Nights-style [story], and there was a gay character in the trilogy, but I was always unsatisfied because he had to remain chaste and celibate and alone—unrequited love—and for years I just sort of accepted that. And then I realized that Hickman is a Mormon, and so this was a case of ‘love the sinner, hate the sin.’ And so he was OK with presenting a gay character, but the character could not have a homosexual relationship.”

John Joseph Adams on hostility to queer characters:

“On the most basic level it’s sad, and it’s very upsetting, and there have been times—there was at least one review for The End is Nigh which was complaining about the sexuality of the characters, and the language that the person used was such that I was like, ‘I know you’re not supposed to reply to reviews, but I kind of feel like I could reach this guy.’ Like if we just engaged him we could reach him, because he seemed like he wasn’t a full-on bigot, you know? This was just some sort of gut reaction he was having where he was not enjoying the stories because of that, but there was something about the way he put it where I was like, ‘I think if we actually made the right case to him we could convince him, we could show him the error of his ways, why that’s wrong-headed thinking.’ And ultimately—I didn’t do it—but some colleagues of mine thought it was worthwhile, and so tried to engage him, but I don’t think the guy ever replied. But the thing is, there’s so little chance that you’re ever going to convince anybody with that sort of thing. If what you’re doing is presenting them with fiction, and in these stories you’re getting into the hearts and minds of these characters that are queer, and the reader still isn’t convinced that that’s worthwhile, you’re never going to convince them by just arguing with them.”

While You Were Offline: Murder, She Wrote Gets a Surreal Supercut

After the horrific start to the year, the second week of 2015 makes it feel like this might not be the worst twelve months of our existence yet, with some light breaking through the grim clouds of current events. Which isn’t to say that this was a week free of (deserved) outrage, of course; this is the Internet, after all, and there were Oscar nominations to be announced. Nonetheless, it wasn’t all doom and gloom, as you’ll see below. For once, here are some genuine highlights (and important lowlights) of the last seven days on this wild web we all call home.

Jessica Fletcher Gets It (Eventually)

What Happened: The “classic” (read “old”) detective show Murder, She Wrote got a master edit that brought out the “Too Many Cooks” in Angela Lansbury.

Where It Blew Up: Twitter, blogs

What Really Happened: Really, we’re not sure there’s too much to add to the experience beyond… well, just watch (above). This supercut is the work of Isaac Royffe, a filmmaker who’s worked for MTV, Pitchfork, and Ghost Robot (you can see some of his less, uh, Angela Lansbury work here). Quite why he felt the need to unleash this upon the world, we don’t know, but it’s one of the more weirdly hypnotic and unsettling things we’ve seen in quite some time. Who knew that Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast could turn out to be quite so disturbing when edited in a certain way?

The Takeaway: Suddenly, we have the strangest desire to binge-watch all 12 years’ worth of Murder, She Wrote, if only to find out if there’s any more context to these scenes. When will someone do the same for all those “Just one last thing” scenes from Columbo? Isaac…?

#JeSuisCharlie (Reprise)

What Happened: The first issue of Charlie Hebdo since the terrorist attack that killed 12 staff members at the magazine was published, with another controversial cover.

Where It Blew Up: Twitter, blogs, media think pieces

What Really Happened: This week’s issue of Charlie Hebdo was already primed to be an event, with 5 million copies printed to meet the increased demand following the tragic attack on the magazine’s offices Jan. 7. The magazine’s choice of cover for the issue—again featuring a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad holding a sign saying “Je Suis Charlie,” the meme that showed solidarity with the magazine in the wake of the attack—prompted a lot of discussion, unsurprisingly.

Cartoonist Tom Humberstone wondered if the cartoons were too clumsy in their satire, while French journalist Guillemette Faure suggested the magazine was being unfairly lauded in response to the attack. Cartoonist Luz, responsible for the new cover, explained that his image was “aimed at intelligent people, who are much more numerous than you think, whether they’re atheists, Catholics [or] Muslims,” but not everyone was convinced. The cover was condemned by many countries with majority Muslim populations (Turkey even banned website pages showing it, while African newspapers have apologized for printing images of it).

The Takeaway: Somehow, a jokey “well, satire is supposed to make people uncomfortable, right?” feels not only unworthy, but also offensively trite, given the context. This is an extremely complicated and loaded issue, with no “right side” beyond “Hey, maybe killing people because of a cartoon is a horrific overreaction.” Free speech is important, as is the freedom of satire and comedy, but when dealing with such important, sacred images, there’s surely a responsibility to ensure that the comedy is as sharp (and respectful) as possible to ensure that those offended are the targets of your derision. What happened to the Charlie Hebdo staff was a tragedy, but given the attention they’ve received as a result, they have a duty to step up and try to become satirists worthy of the the canonization they’re currently receiving from those defending their cause. Of course, that’s hardly likely to be an easy, or fast, process.

Nobody’s Happy With The Oscar Nominations

What Happened: The nominations for this year’s Academy Awards were announced, and almost no one was happy.

Where It Blew Up: Twitter, blogs, media think pieces

What Really Happened: Thursday saw the announcement of this year’s Academy Award nominations, which of course triggered an immediate reaction from … well, everyone who wanted something else to be nominated, instead. It wasn’t just outraged tweets that ended up resulting from the snubs, however; they also provoked a number of think pieces analyzing their impact. None of this should be a surprise, mind you; every single year, there is upset over who and what got overlooked by the Academy. You’d think, by now, we would have learned to accept that the Oscars denote little other than the tastes of a very specific (albeit, amazingly influential) audience, and do not actually reflect on the quality of those nominated or snubbed, and yet, every year, we find ourselves outraged and upset that stories about white men’s struggles are celebrated over almost anything and everything else.

The Takeaway: Really, this tweet from Transparent creator Jill Soloway probably puts it most succinctly:

So. Anyone up for starting our own, alternative Academy Awards next year?

Candy Everybody Wants (But Not Like That)

What Happened: British sweet manufacturer Cadbury decided to make some changes to the recipe and packaging of their (admittedly, almost iconic) Creme Eggs, and this was apparently the last straw for many.

Where It Blew Up: Twitter, blogs, media think pieces

What Really Happened: The beloved institution that is Cadbury’s Creme Eggs is under attack. Well, more like “it’s being changed slightly, with Cadbury deciding to redesign the packaging and change the recipe for the chocolate shell in the UK,” but apparently even that is enough to send people into a sugar-rush-fueled panic, with news reports of a “nation in shock” as a result. “Our favorite chocolate has been ruined,” tweeted one fan, while the Guardian newspaper called the new egg “nothing less than an abomination”. There is, of course, a #CremeEggGate hashtag on social media in response, because the Internet.

The Takeaway: People, it’s only chocolate. And more importantly, it’s only gross chocolate. Yeah, we said it. Also, we’re in the US, so these changes don’t impact us in the slightest. Hell, change the whole thing! Make the eggs square! Fill them with candied ginger! Actually, that might make them worth eating.

More Than 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover

What Happened: Someone created the Twitter hashtag #FiveWordsToRuinADate. Hilarity ensued.

Where It Blew Up: Twitter

What Really Happened: An Irish DJ is claiming credit for the meme that overtook Twitter this week, and given how enjoyable the results ended up being, let’s be generous and grant him the plaudits. It’s a premise so simple that the hashtag fully explains it: what five words could someone say that would ruin a date? Well, let’s see…

Many, many more can be found here.

The Takeaway: Could this be a social media meme that actually worked? That can’t be right; we have almost no doubt someone will have managed to destroy the goodwill of this one by the time you’re reading these words.

Twitter Finally Lives Up To Its Potential

What Happened: If you’ve ever thought “If only someone would create a Choose Your Own Adventure game on Twitter, where you jump between accounts depending on what choice you’ve made…” then this just so happens to be your lucky day.

Where It Blew Up: Twitter, blogs

What Really Happened: Last weekend, a Twitter account called “A Dreadful Start” appeared, and posted one tweet:

It was the start of something wonderful: a Choose Your Own Adventure game that ran across multiple Twitter accounts, offering you the chance to make some (admittedly, pretty basic) decisions about what to do in case of emergency. It turned out to be the work of Terence Eden, who explained his process here. Understandably, people were entranced, and soon lots and lots and lots of people were taking notice. They should; it’s endlessly entertaining.

The Takeaway: We’ve seen longform Twitter essays and longform Twitter fiction, so why not longform Twitter multi-path adventures? For something as short as it is—there are only 23 “decisions” to be made—this is kind of genius … and also an easy way to waste even more time on Twitter. Sorry.