Earwax of bacteria. Cerumen has been found to reduce the viability of a wide range of bacteria, including "Haemophilus influenzae", "Staphylococcus aureus", and many variants of "Escherichia coli", sometimes by as much as 99%. The growth of two fungi commonly present in otomycosis was also significantly inhibited by human cerumen. These antimicrobial properties are due principally to the presence of saturated fatty acids, lysozyme and, especially, to the slight acidity of cerumen (pH typically around 6.1 in normal individuals). Conversely, other research has found that cerumen can support microbial growth and some cerumen samples were found to have bacterial counts as
Is the Is Are substance," following an incident in which their car was pulled over by the police, en route to the Basilica Music Festival. Smith stated that the incident greatly influenced the writing and recording of "Is the Is Are": "What happened to us was really shitty and traumatic, and it wasn’t something I did to get attention — it was the worst possible thing that could have happened at that moment. I knew it was going to take a really good album to save me. That’s what made it so hard to write, and why it took so long. If I didn’t