mold

19 Stories

The Dark Lesion on His Brain? It Wasn't Cancer. It Was Mold

Tyson Bottenus writes in BuzzFeed of his fight to defeat an extremely rare infection

(Newser) - It wasn't until the third biopsy that doctors managed to identify the mysterious brain ailment plaguing Tyson Bottenus. Turns out it wasn't a tumor—it was mold. Bottenus, a Rhode Island ship captain in his early 30s who had been the model of health, had black mold growing...

Uber's Latest Headache: Rotting Sandwiches

The UberEATS driver has confounded everyone

(Newser) - There wasn't anything terribly special about their order, but what happened next was truly unexpected. Toronto-area couple Anna Kotlikova and Blake Weinzettl ordered pizza and soda from a nearby haunt, Montana's, over the weekend, using UberEATS so they wouldn't have to go out and pick it up....

Decades-Old Mold Sold for 'Bargain' Price of $15K

Fungus said to come from pioneer Alexander Fleming's original penicillin culture

(Newser) - How much would you pay for a piece of mold? If your answer is "nothing," it may surprise you to know that someone else's answer was $14,617. A patch of green bacteria encased in a round glass dish sold for that sum to an unnamed buyer...

Parents: Popular Teething Toy Is Rife With Mold

Owner of Sophie the Giraffe says moisture has turned her toy into 'science experiment'

(Newser) - Sophie the Giraffe, a squeaky rubber teething toy, has become all the rage the past few years, despite a relatively steep price tag— Quartz noted in June its $24.99 cost compared with simpler teething toys that retail for less than $5. But Sophie's popularity may take a hit...

Catholic Diocese Finds Utah's 'Bleeding Host' Wasn't a Miracle

It was bread mold

(Newser) - The Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City says a bleeding host reported after a communion wafer turned water red was caused by bread mold, not a miracle. Officials said Wednesday that a scientist found the conclusive natural explanation for the wafer that turned water in an ablution bowl a dark...

Woman's Illness Solved When Docs Extract Implants

Saline implants can, and do, get moldy

(Newser) - In 2011, Anne Ziegenhorn of Florida began to gain weight inexplicably. Normally healthy, the mother of two soon began suffering from burning pain, vision loss, and cloudy thinking and had sores all over her body. She writes that she was unable to talk for 8 months, instead texting and writing...

Mold in ICU May Have Killed 2

UPMC Presbyterian still investigating after mold found in walls

(Newser) - A Pittsburgh hospital says it is in the midst of "a very active investigation" after two patients died in its cardiothoracic intensive care unit, which was later found to contain mold. UPMC Presbyterian Hospital's quality control chief Tami Minnier says a fungal infection first appeared on the leg...

Drying Laundry Indoors Is Unhealthy

Can promote allergies, asthma: study

(Newser) - Got allergies or asthma? You may want to avoid drying your clothes inside your home: A study finds that many households suffer from too much moisture, and laundry is to blame for up to a third of the damp, the BBC reports. "Going into people's homes, we found...

FDA: Drug Co. Knew About Mold, Bacteria Contamination

Months before the meningitis outbreak

(Newser) - Staffers at a pharmacy linked to the deadly meningitis outbreak documented dozens of cases of mold and bacteria growing in rooms that were supposed to be sterile, according to federal health inspectors. In a preliminary report on conditions at the pharmacy, the US Food and Drug Administration said today that...

9/11 Hearings Begin Today Amid Rats, Mold

Judge won't allow further delays to Guantanamo trial

(Newser) - The Guantanamo trial of five 9/11 suspects has already been postponed thanks to a tropical storm, religious observances, an Internet outage, and more—but an invasion of rats and mold isn't going to push it back any further. Pretrial hearings are set to begin today for alleged mastermind Khalid...

Distillery Neighbors Sue Over 'Black Gunk'

Whiskey distilleries lead to gross-sounding fungus

(Newser) - The good news when you live next door to a whiskey distillery is that … you live next door to a whiskey distillery. The bad news? Apparently those distilleries cause a fungus—or, as the New York Times calls it, a "sooty-looking black gunk"—to spread over houses,...

More Foreclosures Means More Mold

Abandoned homes are perfect environments for mold and mildew

(Newser) - At least one population is benefiting from the housing foreclosure crisis—mold. As more foreclosed homes sit unused for months or years while bureaucracy holds back sales, mold and mildew are growing at an alarming rate, reports NPR . More than half of all forecosed homes in some states are thought...

Bacteria, Mold Fill BART Seats

Cloth seats harder to clean, allow dangerous bacteria to thrive

(Newser) - If you are fighting for a seat on San Francisco's BART trains, maybe you should think again—the seats are full of nasty bacteria, including a drug-resistant strain of staphylococcus aureus superbug, and several types of mold, says a new report commissioned by The Bay Citizen . “I would love...

CIA Agent Defies Court, Reports Abuse

Kevin Shipp says agency 'covered up the destruction of my family'

(Newser) - Kevin Shipp isn’t supposed to talk about how, in his mind, the CIA ruined his life. He’s not supposed to tell the New York Times that he sued the agency for stationing him in a home that was built over buried ammunition and contaminated by toxic mold, sickening...

6 Months Later, McDonald's Happy Meal Is Mold-Free

Artist has been photographing the burger, fries since April 10

(Newser) - What started as art has turned into mad science. Sally Davies took a photo of the McDonald's Happy Meal she bought on April 10—and she's taken a picture of that same meal every day since. Now, six months on, the hamburger and fries seem to defy the laws of...

Mold May Have Killed Brittany
 Mold May Have Killed Brittany 

Mold May Have Killed Brittany

...and Simon Monjack, too

(Newser) - It was eerie enough when Simon Monjack died just a few months after his wife, Brittany Murphy—it was even eerier when it was reported he died of the exact same cause, pneumonia. Now officials believe mold in their home may have contributed to their deaths, law enforcement sources tell...

Pay for Soup, Enjoy Insects, Mold Free
Pay for Soup, Enjoy Insects, Mold Free
OPINION

Pay for Soup, Enjoy Insects, Mold Free

FDA's classification of food 'defects' a slippery slope

(Newser) - If you're eating, stop reading now: The FDA's rules on foreign matter in food products are a veritable entomology lesson. Maggots, fly eggs, rodent droppings, grit, mold, burlap, cigarette butts, and parasites are all OK with the agency in limited quantities, writes EJ Levy in the New York Times, adding,...

Ike Returnees Battle Chronic Mold Outbreak

Earlier return may have curbed fungus on Galveston Island

(Newser) - Initial relief that their Texas property survived Hurricane Ike quickly dissipated for many returning to Galveston Island who discovered colorful mold breeding wildly on virtually everything left standing. Damp, hot buildings were left sealed for two weeks when residents evacuated, giving the fungus plenty of time to nestle into the...

Mold Ravages Da Vinci Codex
Mold Ravages Da Vinci Codex

Mold Ravages Da Vinci Codex

Damage wrought for lack of restoration funding

(Newser) - An onslaught of red, black, and purple mold has turned the Codex Atlanticus, the largest collection of writings and drawings by Leonardo Da Vinci, into a "precious sick patient," the Times of London reports. The mold, discovered by an American scholar, is attacking 12,000 codex sheets at...

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