Just Because.
​August 2, 2026

Ashton is a weather expert (yes, he is eight, but that statement stands firm), and of course I also love rain because, well, we live in a desert, so we embrace it when we can and my hair doesn't care about it.
We both love how it smells when it rains—that earthy scent known as petrichor. Naturally, instead of simply enjoying this fact like a normal person, I occasionally look it up again to see what else I can learn.
This time I discovered geosmin, the compound responsible for much of that earthy smell. It’s produced by tiny microorganisms in the soil, because dirt has a more sophisticated chemistry department than I give it credit for.
So now geosmin is one up from petrichor on my list of favorite words. I like that one interesting word led me to another, and that a completely unnecessary bit of curiosity turned into an even better discovery.
Follow your curiosity. It may lead somewhere fascinating, or at minimum consume 45 minutes you were supposed to spend doing something important.
DISCLAIMER: DO YOUR CRITICAL OBLIGATIONS FIRST. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR 37 OPEN TABS.

A method for measuring fluoroquinolone accumulation by Streptococcus pneumoniae was rigorously examined. The accumulation of ciprofloxacin, clinafloxacin, gatifloxacin, grepafloxacin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, norfloxacin, ofloxacin, sitafloxacin, and trovafloxacin in the presence and absence of either carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenyl-hydrazone (CCCP) or reserpine was determined for two wild-type fluoroquinolone-susceptible capsulated S. pneumoniae strains (M3 and M4) and the noncapsulated strain R6. Two efflux mutants, R6N (which overexpresses PmrA) and a mutant of M4, M22 (no expression of PmrA), were also examined. Essentially, the fluoroquinolones fell into two groups. (i) One group consisting of ciprofloxacin, grepafloxacin, and norfloxacin accumulated to 72 to 92 ng/mg (dry weight) of cells in all strains. (ii) The remainder of the agents accumulated to 3 to 30 ng/mg (dry weight) of cells. With a decrease in hydrophobicity, there was a decrease in the concentration accumulated. With an increase in the molecular weight of the free form of each agent, there was also a decrease in the concentration accumulated. The strains differed in their responses to reserpine and CCCP. For the three fluoroquinolone-susceptible strains, only reserpine had a significant effect upon accumulation of moxifloxacin and clinafloxacin by M3 and showed no effect for the other agents and strains. For M3 and M4, CCCP enhanced the concentration of ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin accumulated, whereas for R6, the effect was only statistically significant for ofloxacin. Efflux mutant M22 accumulated less ciprofloxacin, gatifloxacin, and ofloxacin than M4 did. M22 accumulated more norfloxacin than M4 did. Reserpine and CCCP had variable effects as for the other strains. Differences in the accumulation of fluoroquinolones by R6 and R6N were highly dependent upon growth phase, and only for norfloxacin was there a significant difference between two strains. 
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kara-Olivarria
www.researchgate.net/profile/Kara-Olivarria