Assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell and a staff physician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where he serves on the Ethics Committee, Matt McCarthy's work has appeared in Sports Illustrated, Slate, The New England Journal of Medicine, and Deadspin. In the first half, he discussed the history of antibiotics and the alarming frequency in the incidence of superbugs-- drug-resistant microbes that not only include bacteria, but fungi, parasites, and even viruses. Some of the resistant bacteria have developed "efflux pumps"-- microscopic vacuum cleaners that suck up antibiotics and spit them out, as well as enzymes that chop up drug treatments. "We've used antibiotics inappropriately for the last 30 or 40 years," he said, "and that has exposed these organisms to our treasure trove of antibiotics, and they've figured out ways to outmaneuver them and to destroy the drugs we've relied on for so long."
Part of the problem is that when patients are given a prescription, they don't take it for the full duration, and this allows the superbug to survive, evolve, and learn how to fend off the antibiotic, he explained. New approaches are being explored, such as trying to harness bacteria in the soil that are engaged in molecular warfare against other bacteria. Yet, pharmaceutical companies have been less interested in developing new antibiotics because they can make more money from drugs used for chronic conditions, McCarthy lamented. Currently, 23,000 people die each year from drug-resistant infections, but by 2050 some 10 million will die worldwide according to WHO projections, and the problem will be worse than heart disease and cancer.
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Researcher Andy Lloyd is known for his 'Dark Star Theory' which considers whether a binary failed star may be orbiting our Sun at a great distance. In the latter half, he talked about the resurgence of interest in Planet X or Nibiru, which has been re-branded by mainstream astronomers as Planet Nine. He was intrigued to discover that astronomers' calculations of the theoretical planet such as its inclined, elongated orbit and large size bear a great deal of similarity to the way Zecharia Sitchin described Nibiru. Potentially located in the heliopause or the beginnings of interstellar space, Lloyd speculated that the planet could be wrapped up in a kind of dusty nebula that obscures direct observation.
He also posited that this large object might have a habitable moon in orbit around it, which could contain intelligent life, as Sitchin has written about. Further, there may be something moving between the two objects-- a substantial comet or minor planet, and this could be what shoots into the inner solar system on long-range cycles. It is this "ferry boat" in the sky that might lead to extinction or catastrophic earth events such as the Clovis comet, at the end of the last Ice Age. Lloyd suggested that the ancient Gobekli Tepe site in Turkey could be a post-apocalyptic refuge environment that sought to warn people of the devastating event. For more, view related images Lloyd shared with us.
News segment guests: John M. Curtis, Dr. Peter Breggin