🧬 The Distilled Download - Jan 19

Greetings, fellow science nerds! 🤓 Here’s your latest installment of The Distilled Download.

Most of my plans this week got put on hold due to an unfortunate run-in with some active SARS-CoV-2 virions, but i’m now through the worst of it and starting to come back alive.

And now.

The Download

💊 New Oral COVID Anti-Viral
Speaking of COVID-19, a study published yesterday showed the results of using a new pill to treat folks who were fairly young and healthy (avg. age 35, half had one comorbidity). By day 5, the treatment group had a 30x lower viral load than the control. The side effects and interactions are fairly similar to those of Paxlovid, but this is ¼ the cost to manufacture–so maybe we’ll finally start getting easier access!

〽️What Makes Urine Yellow
We’ve known for years that the color is due to a chemical called Urobilin, but we didn’t understand how said chemical made its way into our pee. Until now.

As red blood cells age and break down, they produce a bright orange pigment named bilirubin. This pigment normally moves into the gut for removal, but sometimes too much gets reabsorbed back into the blood, leading to jaundice, which causes yellow skin and eyes. Researchers just discovered an enzyme in the gut called bilirubin reductase that transforms bilirubin into urobilinogen, a colorless byproduct. This then degrades into urobilin, giving urine its yellow color.

📺 TV Show I’m Enjoying
The one fun thing about being sick and forced to quarantine in bed is the ability to watch random TV without feeling too unproductive. In this instance I decided to give Foundation a try, the sci-fi show based off of the book series by Isaac Asimov. It’s been years since I read the books, but I was pleasantly surprised at how the show turned out. It could be that my hyper-critical brain was just on a sickness-induced vacation, but if you enjoy cool sci-fi then I’d recommend giving it a go! (It’s got 2 seasons so far, and has been renewed for a 3rd)

 🧬 Cheap Gadget to Treat Head & Muscle Aches
Have you ever had a headache that was helped by either a warm or cold compress to the neck, head, or face? I’ve always been annoyed at how most reusable bottles are super thick and don’t conform to the skin, and solid beads don’t retain and transmit heat as well as liquid. These bags do an excellent job of solving both problems. They’ve got a wide mouth for easy filling (and can take ice cubes), their form factor is perfect for draping across the neck or head, and the screw caps are tight and leak-proof. Sometimes a cheap solution ends up being way better than expensive alternatives!

Thanks for reading! I love to hear feedback, so feel free to respond to this email or tag me on Twitter or Threads (which I’ll start using seriously one of these days 🙊).