Flat-Earther FINALLY Launches Himself Into The Air, Crashes, Goes To Hospital

Infamous flat-earther Mike Hughes has finally managed to get his homemade rocket off the ground.  Of course, who could have predicted that launching yourself into the air would result in a horrific crash, and a trip to the hospital?

Anyone, really.  If you can’t see the curvature of the Earth from a plane, as many flat-earthers proclaim, how are you going to prove the Earth is flat from a substantially lower elevation?  Common sense isn’t a flower that grows in everyone’s garden, however.

According to The Independent, “Mad” Mike, built the steam-powered rocket using scrap metal and ended up spending around $20,000 (£15,000) on the beast. Truly living up to his name, “Mad” Mike went for it and launched himself into the air, as an online video proves. However, it’s only true to say that his flight into orbit was pretty damn short, to say the least.  His “flight” lasted around 4 seconds in total before he landed crashed hard in the Mojave Desert.

In all honesty, a plane could have taken him quite a bit higher.

After paramedics checked him over, Mad Mike said, “I’m tired of people saying I chickened out and didn’t build a rocket. I’m tired of that stuff; I manned up and did it.” After his hard landing, 61-year-old Hughes, who works as a limousine driver, claimed he only had a bad back.

Upon impact, the nose of the homemade rocket, which Hughes had been creating from hand over the past few months, shattered as intended although Hughes admitted the landing was a close call. “This thing wants to kill you 10 different ways. Am I glad I did it? Yeah, I guess. I’ll feel it in the morning. I won’t be able to get out of bed. At least I can go home and have dinner and see my cats tonight.” Hughes said.

It is estimated that Mike reached a speed of 350 mph and a height of 1,875 feet before parachutes, reportedly supplied by NASA, were deployed allowing the rocket to land, relatively safely.

A year ago, Hughes said, “I don’t believe in science. I know about aerodynamics and fluid dynamics and how things move through the air, about the certain size of rocket nozzles, and thrust, but that’s not science, that’s just a formula. There’s no difference between science and science fiction.”

So, did Hughes prove that the Earth is flat? No. But he is a true eccentric.

Genes for Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Are Found in Beijing Smog

Public health experts have warned that antibiotic resistance could claim 10 million people each year by 2050. In early December 2016, researchers said they had discovered that livestock had become resistant to a class of antibiotics used only in humans. Now scientists have found the genes that make bacteria resistant to antibiotics in polluted air in Beijing, China. [1]

Source: The New York Times

Read: Superbug Resistant to ALL Antibiotics Found in China

In the study, the team analyzed DNA sequencing from 864 different samples from humans, animals, and the environment. Some of those samples came from Beijing smog, and in those samples researchers identified a variety of genes that can make bacteria resistant to antibiotics.

It’s a scary announcement, but the discovery of the gene in the crowded city’s smog doesn’t necessarily mean people can get superbugs from the air. At this point, researchers only know that the aerial spread of such genes should be researched further – at least according to a paper in the journal Microbiome by researchers at the University of Gothenburg .

But if antibiotic resistance can be spread through the air, it means that the bacteria people pick up on surfaces around Beijing may become harder, if not impossible, to beat. In a city of 11.51 million people, there are plenty of bugs to go around. So even if drug-resistant bacteria can’t make someone sick through inhalation, that doesn’t mean they can’t sicken people in some other way.

W. Ian Lipkin, director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, isn’t convinced that smog-borne antibiotic-resistant resistant bacteria aren’t a threat. He explained:

“It’s not clear that bacteria in smog are a health threat.

What is clear is that the air isn’t clean. Pollution results in damage to airways that increases susceptibility to a wide range of viruses as well as bacteria.

One question not addressed is whether smog stabilizes bacteria in a way that normal air does not. Bacteria probably don’t replicate in the air. More likely that they settle somewhere and do, exchanging genetic material in liquid or on surfaces.” [2]

Source: WHO

Joakim Larsson, director of the Centre for Antibiotic Resistance Research at the University of Gothenburg, is the lead author of the study. He said:

“We think this is really under-investigated and not taken seriously.” [1]

Speaking of bacteria replicating in liquid…

In addition to discovering the genes that cause antibiotic resistance in the air, Larsson and his colleagues also found a high amount of the genes in areas where there is a great deal of pollution from antibiotic manufacturing. Larsson’s past research shows that waste from manufacturing plants can end up in water sources. More regulation is needed to combat this problem, he said, adding:

“We need to apply discharge limits and have some regulation enforced. I think there’s sufficient data there to really call for some action.”

The most frightening part of the discovery was the fact that some of the genes can contribute to bacteria becoming resistant to carbapenems, a class of “last-resort” antibiotics.

How concerned people in Beijing should be about drug-resistant genes in the air seems to depend on whom you ask. But state news outlets have been doling out advice to Beijing residents, either out of genuine concern, or merely to assuage the worries of locals:

“To minimize illness during smog attacks, get enough sleep, eat foods that help you expectorate, flush out your nose with saltwater and wash your hands.” [2]

Sources:

[1] Time

[2] The New York Times

The New York Times

WHO

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About Julie Fidler:
	Julie Fidler is a freelance writer, legal blogger, and the author of Adventures in Holy Matrimony: For Better or the Absolute Worst. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two ridiculously spoiled cats. She occasionally pontificates on her blog.

CDC Warning: Thousands of Heart Patients at Risk from Contaminated Surgical Devices

On October 13, officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) warned that bacteria may have contaminated special devices used during open heart surgery, putting more than half a million heart surgery patients at risk. [1]

Source: The Seattle Times

The devices, LivaNova PLC (formerly Sorin Group Deutschland GmbH) Stockert 3T heater-cooler devices, might have been contaminated with Mycobacterium chimaera bacteria during manufacturing, according to the CDC. [2]

In a news release, the agency said that people who have had open heart surgery should seek immediate medical care if they develop any signs of infection, including night sweats, muscle aches, weight loss, fatigue, or unexplained fever.

Additionally, the CDC said that doctors and hospitals should identify and inform patients who might have been put at risk.

Dr. Michael Bell, deputy director of the CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, said:

“It’s important for clinicians and their patients to be aware of this risk so that patients can be evaluated and treated quickly.

“Hospitals should check to see which type of heater-coolers are in use, ensure that they’re maintained according to the latest manufacturer instructions, and alert affected patients and the clinicians who care for them.”

The heater-cooler devices are used in more than 250,000 heart bypass procedures each year. The devices use water to help keep a patient’s blood circulating and organs at a specific temperature during surgery. The water does not come into contact with the patient, but bacteria can be transmitted through the air from the device’s exhaust vent.

Bell explained:

“Some smart engineer designed it because surgeons said they need to keep this cool and that warm. But no one probably said, it needs not to have a fan because it wasn’t part of the calculation. The person who wanted this machine, they weren’t thinking about maintenance and repair.” [1]

Contaminated Stockert 3T heater-cooler devices infected at least 12 individuals at a hospital in York, Pennsylvania, last year. Six of the individuals died, though officials initially said they weren’t positive that infection was the primary cause of the deaths. [3]

The infection was identified at other hospitals, as well, and DNA testing confirmed the presence of the bacteria.

Risk is Low

Fortunately, the risk of infection is very low, according to Bell – from about 1 in 100 to 1 in 1,000 in hospitals where at least 1 infection had been identified. However, the CDC said:

“Although thousands of patients in the United States have been notified regarding potential exposure to contaminated heater-cooler devices, the number who were exposed might be much larger.” [1]

Rather than stop using the Stockert 3T heater-cooler devices, the CDC is simply recommending that healthcare workers and patients be aware of the potential for contamination. [3]

Mycobacterium Chimaera isn’t the Worst Bacteria Around – If You’re Healthy

Mycobacterium chimaera, also known as nontuberculous mycobacterium, or NTM, is found in nature and is not usually harmful for people with normal immunity; however, it can cause serious illness and death in people who are seriously ill or have compromised immune systems. The infection is slow-growing, and can worsen over the course of months or years. It is treatable, if caught in time.

Source: ePainAssist

Several individuals were diagnosed with the infection in Europe. Some of them sickened there were diagnosed almost 4 years after surgery. [1]

Surgical devices have been implicated in past infection outbreaks. An outbreak of Carbapenem resistant enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, spread by endoscopes, infected people in 42 states. The superbug can kill up to half of infected people who get bloodstream infections.

In the case of the endoscopes, the contamination was found to be caused by improper sterilization procedures. The devices were notoriously difficult to clean thoroughly.

Additionally, contaminated colonoscopes, devices used to perform colonoscopies, put nearly 300 people at a Massachusetts hospital at risk for HIV and hepatitis, due also to improper sterilization procedures.

Sources:

[1] The Washington Post

[2] HealthDay

[3] The New York Times

The Seattle Times

ePainAssist

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About Julie Fidler:
	Julie Fidler is a freelance writer, legal blogger, and the author of Adventures in Holy Matrimony: For Better or the Absolute Worst. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two ridiculously spoiled cats. She occasionally pontificates on her blog.