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As many as 28% of hospitalized patients requiring mechanical ventilators to help them breathe (for more than 48 hours) will develop ventilator-associated pneumonia. Current therapy involves intravenous antibiotics, but new antibiotics that can be inhaled (and more directly treat the infection) are being developed.
Human stomach acid is strong enough to dissolve small pieces of metal such as razor blades or staples.
Bacteria have been found alive in a lake buried one half mile under ice in Antarctica.
When blood is exposed to air, it clots. Heparin allows the blood to come in direct contact with air without clotting.
Human neurons are so small that they require a microscope in order to be seen. However, some neurons can be up to 3 feet long, such as those that extend from the spinal cord to the toes.