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Recipe for antibacterial plastic: Plastic plus egg whites

Bioplastics made from protein sources such as albumin and whey have shown significant antibacterial properties, findings that could eventually lead to their use in plastics used in medical applications such as wound healing dressings, sutures, catheter tubes and drug delivery, according to a recent study by the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences.

The bioplastic materials could also be used for food packaging.

Researchers tested three nontraditional bioplastic materials--albumin, whey and soy proteins--as alternatives to conventional petroleum-based plastics that pose risks of contamination.

In particular, albumin, a protein found in egg whites, demonstrated tremendous antibacterial properties when blended with a traditional plasticizer such as glycerol.

"It was found that it had complete inhibition, as in no bacteria would grow on the plastic once applied," said Alex Jones, a doctoral student in the department of textiles, merchandising and interiors. "The bacteria wouldn't be able to live on it."

The study appears in the online version of the Journal of Applied Polymer Science.

One of the researchers' aims is to find ways to reduce the amount of petroleum used in traditional plastic production; another is to find a fully biodegradable bioplastic.

The albumin-glycerol blended bioplastic met both standards, Jones said.

"If you put it in a landfill, this being pure protein, it will break down," he said. "If you put it in soil for a month--at most two months--these plastics will disappear."

The next step in the research involves a deeper analysis of the albumin-based bioplastic's potential for use in the biomedical and food packaging fields.

As noted in the study, 4.5 hospital admissions out of every 100 in the U.S. in 2002 resulted in a hospital-acquired infection. In addition to the risk of contamination in hospitals, food contamination as a result of traditional plastics is a notable risk.

Researchers are encouraged by the antimicrobial properties of albumin-based bioplastics that could potentially reduce these risks through drug elution--loading the bioplastic with either drugs or food preservatives that can kill bacteria or prevent it from spreading.

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The above story is based on materials provided by University of Georgia . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Wii U Zelda Won’t Arrive in 2015, or Even Show at E3

Well, that’s a one-two punch for the Wii U: Nintendo said today that its highly anticipated new Legend of Zelda game won’t make its planned 2015 release date, and in case that wasn’t enough, the game won’t even be shown at this year’s E3 Expo in June.

Zelda was set to be the tentpole release for the beleaguered Wii U console this year, so its loss is a pretty massive blow to Nintendo’s holiday lineup. Then again, if you didn’t see this one coming a mile away, you haven’t been paying attention: Nintendo regularly delays its games, especially when said game is a new entry in the Zelda series. (I laid down my marker on this the minute Nintendo announced the game’s release date, by the way.)

And this one in particular is maybe the most ambitious Zelda game the team’s ever done, since it’s the first to take place in a massive open world. The chances that Nintendo would either run into development snags—or simply discover new ideas that they want to implement—were very high.

That seems to have been the case, at least in part: Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma said, in a video update announcing the delay, that “as the team has experienced firsthand the freedom of exploration that hasn’t existed in any Zelda game to date, we have discovered several new possibilities for the game.” Implementing those, he said, is the reason for the delay.

Nintendo isn’t the only console maker to delay Christmas this year: Earlier this month, Sony said that Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End wouldn’t be out on PlayStation 4 until 2016.

The loss of Zelda is a fairly heavy blow to Wii U’s outlook for the year. With third party software publishers not releasing much of note on the platform, it’s been up to Nintendo to carry most of the weight. Besides Zelda, it still currently plans to release Mario Maker, Star Fox, Yoshi’s Woolly World and Xenoblade Chronicles X this year.

But there is a bright spot: In addition to its penchant for delaying its big games, Nintendo also often announces big games mere months before it ships them. So hopefully Zelda‘s absence from E3 means more game announcements for 2015 to fill in the void it’s leaving behind.

Jury: Kleiner Did Not Discriminate Against Ellen Pao

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Ellen Pao, former junior partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, exits state court in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Wednesday, March 25, 2015. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The verdict is in.

A six-man, six-woman jury has decided that one-time partner Ellen Pao was not discriminated against by her former employer, storied venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Byers & Caufield, because of her gender. The jury also found that Kleiner did not retaliate against her for complaining about bias at the firm by denying her promotions. The jury also found that Kleiner did not retaliate against her for complaining about bias at the firm by denying her promotions.

Initially, the jury also said it found that Kleiner did not retaliate against Pao by firing her. But in a poll of individual jurors by Judge Harold Kahn found that only eight jurors had voted ‘no.’ Nine votes are required to reach a final verdict.

As a result of the miscount, the judge sent jurors back to deliberate further.

The jury delivered its decision after deliberating since Wednesday in an isolated, windowless room in San Francisco Superior Court. The high-profile sex bias trial that has engrossed Silicon Valley over the past month and convulsed the larger tech industry, where women are still a distinct minority.

The jurors parsed twenty-one days of testimony to come to their decision.

Pao’s suit consisted of four separate but related allegations. She accused Kleiner Perkins of discriminating against her based on her gender and said the firm retaliated against her after she complained. Kleiner Perkins failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent that discrimination, she said, and instead retaliated by firing her.

Throughout the trial, which began more than a month ago, Pao’s attorneys sought to show that the legendary venture capital firm fostered a biased, male-dominated climate where women were passed over, put down, and ignored. Kleiner’s defense team, meanwhile, tried to show that Pao herself wasn’t up to the job, and that her termination had nothing to do with her gender.

Regardless of the verdict, the fact that the case came to trial at all was a kind of loss for Kleiner. In Silicon Valley, companies and venture capital firms craft careful public relations strategies to protect their images. But no PR spin could hide the gossip-ridden world of office politics and intrigue at the firm that emerged during weeks of testimony. Whether, for example, a private jet flight included lewd talk of the Playboy Mansion and Victoria’s Secret models or not, the fact that such a question came up at all is a far cry from the picture of progressive, innovative “thought leaders” VC firms seek to project.

F1 Drivers Push Their Bodies to Extremes in Malaysia’s Heat

Formula One's official medical car, the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG S. It carries F1's head physician, Dr. Ian Roberts, in case of a crash. Mercedes-Benz

Formula One holds races all over the world, in all kinds of climates. From the rainy summer days at Silverstone to the autumn heat in Texas, drivers, mechanics and cars must all be prepared for whatever mother nature might throw at them.

One of the worst races, from a weather perspective, takes place this weekend at Sepang Circuit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. With temperatures expected to touch 90 degrees Fahrenheit along with 80 percent humidity, both man and machine will be tested. Oh, and then there’s incredible tropical rainstorms that can bubble up out of nowhere.

The near-daily rainstorms wash away rubber that gets laid down on the circuit, meaning track evolution—the movement of the racing line and optimal grip as the race progresses—is difficult to predict. It also means the asphalt is exceptionally rough because the rubber can’t lay down and smooth it out, and the course, with fast corners and a bumpy surface, puts significant strain on the Pirelli tires. That’s why cars will be equipped with the two sturdiest tire compounds that Pirelli offers Formula One teams, the white-labeled Medium and the orange-labeled Hard. Aside from tropical Singapore, which is held at night because of the hot temperatures, Malaysia is generally the hottest and one of the toughest races on tires.

As tough as the course is on tires, it’s even tougher on drivers. The exterior heat and humidity are compounded by the cars themselves, with drivers sitting right against the hot engine, and full-body, flame-resistant Nomex racing suits aren’t exactly suited to keeping cool.

During the 193-mile race, each man behind the wheel will burn as many as 1,500 calories and lose three quarts of body fluid. In the days leading up this race, drivers drink as much water as possible, and will work to keep cool and hydrated. In competition, their heart rates will reach 170 beats per minute. To keep sweat out of his eyes, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg says he wears a ladies sanitary napkin on his forehead. Last year, during pre-race ceremonies, several drivers wore special cooling vests to keep their core temperature down in the high heat.

All of which makes Malaysia an especially tough place to come back to racing for McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, a former world champion who missed the season’s first race in Australia because of a concussion suffered following a crash during preseason testing.

Keeping drivers safe is why the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), F1’s sanctioning body, lays down piles of rules governing the medical tests drivers must pass before getting behind the wheel.

Like in football, a single concussion for a driver is not a huge deal. The danger comes from repeated concussions, a non-trivial risk whenever one is in a race car as even minor crashes (which aren’t infrequent) could cause significant g-loads to the brain. Even when they stay on the track, drivers deal with signifiant lateral and longitudinal g-forces, and prolonged stress to the heart and breathing systems. Malaysia adds major heat and humidity. To keep drivers safe, there are numerous medical checks and tests all must pass before they can jump in the cockpit.

There are few things the FIA loves more than rules. That’s why there’s a 24-page document outlining what drivers need to do to get international racing licenses. During an annual medical examination, drivers fill out a questionnaire covering family and personal medical history, any diseases or infections, medications. They undergo cardiovascular and musculoskeletal examinations.

Some conditions, like epilepsy or blindness in one eye are, unsurprisingly, grounds for automatic disqualification. Drivers must be able to distinguish the color of flags being waved during competition, and stereoscopic vision—depth perception—must be functional. Any amputated fingers must not impair gripping function in either hand. And on and on and on.

Before a race, drivers must perform an “extraction test“, where they unbelt themselves, get out of the car safely, and reinstall the steering wheel (so the car can be steered by rescue workers), all within ten seconds. Any driver who fails the test, like Valtteri Bottas did in earlier this month in Australia, is forbidden from racing. Drivers must be able to get themselves out of the car quickly if something were to go wrong.

It all sounds like a bit much, but it’s more reasonable when you consider just how tough the sport is on drivers. Winning in Formula 1 requires getting to the finish line, and that’s never guaranteed. Just as mechanics must ensure the car is reliable and in good working order, the drivers need the same treatment.

Storage Breakthrough Will Improve SSD Capacity Tenfold

The trick to making laptops as thin and light as they’ve gotten has in large part been the transition from traditional hard drives to flash-based solid state drives. The trade-off has been the amount of storage you get (less) and amount you pay for it (much, much more). Micron and Intel appear to have solved at least one of those problems.

The two companies today announced new 3D NAND technology—a variation on the tech that enables the type super-small storage spaces you find in the MacBook Air and other ultralight laptops—that stacks layers of flash cells vertically to increase density. The development comes just in time; the previous production method, known as planar NAND, has nearly maxed out its potential.

When you cut through the technical language, the net result is that 2.5-inch SSDs could come in 10TB capacities, compared to the 1TB drives most laptops max out at today. The smaller SSDs required for the super-skinny laptops of the world won’t see quite as much of a gain, but could still see a jump to 3.5TB, compared to the 512GB you see currently.

It’s a welcome breakthrough, likely also a pricey one for the average consumer. While Intel and Micron indicated that there should be “better cost efficiencies” to 3D NAND versus its planar predecessor, solid state drives remain terrifically expensive next to their spinning disk ancestors. Stepping up from a 128GB SSD MacBook Air to an otherwise identical 256GB MacBook Air adds $200 to your bill, and that’s a fraction of the kind of capacity gains 3D NAND allows.

And even if you were interested in dropping a grand or so on an ultrabook with 2.5TB onboard—maybe you’ve decided to rip 80 Blu-ray discs on a lark?—it’s going to be a little while before you can actually get your hands on one. The 3D NAND chips won’t go into production until closer to the end of this year, which means you won’t see them in consumer devices until 2016 at the earliest.

Still, cheaper and more efficient flash storage—especially this much more efficient—is an incredibly important breakthrough, especially as our lives increasingly revolve around mobile devices that simply don’t have much room to spare. Besides, the less space you waste on an SSD, the more you’ll have for what you really care about: a battery big enough to last you through the day.

Get Your Shots, Wash Your Hands, Thanks, and Goodbye

A little less than 5 years ago, editor Betsy Mason of WIRED Science called to ask whether I’d be interested in joining a new thing. WIRED was thinking about starting a science blog platform; she wondered whether I’d want to be one of the bloggers.

I did very much want: WIRED is both a great magazine, with inspiring storytelling and innovative design, and a brand with international reach. I was a bit perplexed why they would want me — scary diseases didn’t seem like a core interest for WIRED readers — but Betsy (now one of the authors of WIRED’s Map Lab blog) was confident the audience was there.

She was right. Superbug debuted Sept. 14, 2010 with a report on the “Indian superbug,” the antibiotic resistance factor NDM that was then just starting to move across the world. My second post explored “livestock MRSA,” the bacterium that originates in antibiotic overuse in agriculture, and the third looked at the shivery subject of a rare and deadly parasite transmitted by organ transplants. Those three posts pretty much defined Superbug’s turf: public health, global health, and food policy, with a sprinkle of dread. Readers responded with fascination and good will, then and to the more than 300 posts afterward.

Of which, as you’ve probably guessed, this is the last. Superbug has had a fantastic run, but there was only one other place I wanted to work, and I’m headed there. Next week, I’ll be joining National Geographic’s Phenomena under a new blog name.

(Worth saying: This move is coincident with Wired.com’s redesign, but is not at all related. Phenomena happened to have a rare opening.)

I’ll look back with pleasure on your interest in the long asymptote of polio eradication, especially the outrageous attempt by the CIA to use the campaign as a cover for hunting Osama bin Laden. In the challenges of containing Ebola and the difficulties faced by front-line disease fighters. On the dangers of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. In the icky and fascinating phenomenon of fecal transplants. On the chilling advance of extremely drug-resistant hospital infections and totally drug-resistant TB.

I’ll especially remember your ferocious response to Scottish politicians who tried to shut down the bad-school-lunch blog Never Seconds, and how rapidly thousands of you joined the movement that forced officials to let 9-year-old Martha Payne write again. I was very proud of that.

It was a privilege to write for Wired, especially among my clever, creative, distinguished WIRED Science colleagues past and present. In addition to Betsy, I’m grateful to new WIRED Science editor Adam Rogers and WIRED editor-in-chief Scott Dadich for the platform. And especially, readers, to all of you.

I’ll see you ’round the internet. Don’t forget to wash your hands.

Computational model simulates bacterial behavior

University of Notre Dame applied mathematician Mark Alber and environmental biotechnologist Robert Nerenberg have developed a new computational model that effectively simulates the mechanical behavior of biofilms. Their model may lead to new strategies for studying a range of issues from blood clots to waste treatment systems.

"Blood clotting is a leading cause of death in the United States at this point," said Alber, who is The Vincent J. Duncan Family Professor of Applied Mathematics in the College of Science and an adjunct professor of medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine, South Bend. "We can now use a very fast and biologically relevant computational model to study deforming structures of the clots growing in blood flow."

The new model may be adapted to study clot formation in blood vessels, which can pose the risk of detaching and migrating to the lungs, a fatal event. Clots in healthy people usually stop growing and dissolve on their own. The clots, which result from genetic deficiencies, injury, inflammation or such diseases as cancer and diabetes, can grow uncontrollably or develop irregular shapes, threatening to detach under the pressure of blood flowing through the vessels.

Biofilms are found on almost any moist surface including veins, water pipes, ship hulls, contact lenses and hospital equipment. Biofilms are aggregates of bacterial cells embedded in self-produced extracellular polymer substances (EPS). Some biofilms are beneficial, treating wastewater and allowing the biodegradation of environmental contaminants. Others are harmful, fouling industrial equipment, corroding pipes and forming cavities in teeth. Biofilms are of particular concern in human infections, as bacteria in biofilms are much more resistant to antibiotics.

Since biofilms are often found in flowing systems, it is important to understand the effect of fluid flow on biofilms. Biofilms behave like viscoelastic materials. They first stretch elastically, then continue stretching and eventually break, like gum. Most past biofilm models were not able to capture this behavior or predict biofilm detachment. The new model allows for the simulation of this complex behavior. Simulations show that lower-viscosity biofilms are more likely to stretch and form streamers that can detach and clog nearby structures.

The new model can be used to devise new strategies to better manage biofilms. For example, it can be used to promote beneficial biofilms in waste treatment systems, or prevent biofouling layers on membrane filtration systems. It also can help improve dental plaque removal with water irrigators or develop methods to clean catheters or surgical equipment.

"In the past, scientists typically studied bacteria in isolation. In more recent years, they have recognized the importance of biofilm structures and discovered how they are built, but earlier models failed to accurately predict the impact of inhomogeneous multicomponent structure of the biofilm including EPS, on its deformation under pressure from the fluid flow," said Alber, whose group developed the computational model in collaboration with the members of the Nerenberg laboratory.

"The new model simulations are important because they allow us to more realistically incorporate the viscoelastic properties of the biofilm," said Nerenberg, whose laboratory focuses on environmental biofilm processes. "This research will lead to major advances in our understanding of biofilm accumulation and persistence in natural and engineered systems."

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The above story is based on materials provided by University of Notre Dame . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.