Microbes
- Health & Medicine
Step away from the cookie dough. E. coli outbreaks traced to raw flour
Flour, though low in moisture, can sicken people with E. coli toxins if it is eaten raw.
- Life
Lena Pernas sees parasitic infection as a kind of Hunger Games
In studies of Toxoplasma, parasitologist Lena Pernas has reframed infection as a battle between invader and a cell’s mitochondria.
- Microbes
Now we know how much glacial melting ‘watermelon snow’ can cause
Algae that give snow a red tint are making glacial snow in Alaska melt faster.
- Genetics
The Zika epidemic began long before anyone noticed
Zika spread undetected into Brazil and Florida, a genetic study suggests.
- Climate
Ocean acidification may hamper food web’s nitrogen-fixing heroes
A new look at marine Trichodesmium microbes suggests trouble for nitrogen fixation in an acidifying ocean.
- Life
Origin of photosynthesis may go further back than estimates from 50 years ago
Analyzing ancient rocks has helped push back the date when photosynthetic organisms first emerged by nearly a billion years.
- Paleontology
Oldest microfossils suggest life thrived on Earth about 4 billion years ago
A new claim for the oldest microfossils on Earth suggests that life may have originated in hydrothermal vents, but some scientists have doubts.
- Microbes
Microbes survived inside giant cave crystals for up to 50,000 years
Microbes trapped in crystals in Mexico's Naica mine may represent some of the most distinct life-forms found in Earth so far.
- Earth
Fossil microbes show how some life bounced back after dino-killing impact
Pioneering microbes colonized the waters above the Chicxulub crater within hundreds of years following the impact, new research shows.
- Microbes
Cut leaves in bagged salads help Salmonella grow
Juice from torn-up leafy greens helps Salmonella spread in bagged salads.
- Plants
Bacteria help carnivorous plants drown their prey
Pitcher plant drowning traps are more difficult for an insect to escape when bacteria colonize them.
- Life
Lichens are an early warning system for forest health
Lichens, fascinating mosaics of fungi and algae or cyanobacteria, are made for sensing environmental change.
