Microbes
- Earth
Cool Jobs: Unearthing the secrets of soil
In ordinary soil, scientists can find clues to past civilizations, evidence to catch criminals and bacteria that might help fight global warming.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Luminescence
Light and heat don’t always have to go together! Luminescence is what occurs when a substance emits light without making heat.
- Genetics
Small genetic accident made Zika more dangerous
A new study finds that a tiny mutation made the Zika virus more dangerous, by helping it kill cells in the fetal brain.
- Microbes
Sweat-slurping ‘aliens’ live on your skin
Archaea are famous for living in extreme environments. Now scientists find they also inhabit skin, where they seem to enjoy sweat.
- Health & Medicine
How bugs in your gut might hijack your emotions
Tiny molecules in the brain may help bugs in the gut hijack people’s emotions. That’s the conclusion of some new research.
- Brain
Could Zika become a cancer treatment?
The same virus that provoked fear over causing birth defects, last year, may have a beneficial alter ego. Scientists find it may kill cells destined to form deadly brain tumors.
- Health & Medicine
Good germs lurk in gross places
What do poop, dog drool and snot have in common? Though disgusting, they all carry microbes that can help keep people healthy.
- Microbes
Under Antarctic ice, microbes gobble up greenhouse gas
In a lake far beneath the Antarctic ice sheet, scientists have found bacteria that eat methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
- Oceans
Cool Jobs: Science deep beneath the waves
These scientists probe the sea’s depths, its strange inhabitants, the movement of water and how life evolves in extremes.
- Microbes
Scientists Say: Biofilm
When times get tough, some microbes like to stick together. They form a mass stuck to a surface, called a biofilm.
- Health & Medicine
Your gut’s germs may decide whether white bread or whole wheat is best — for you
Surprise! Gut microbes may determine how your body responds to starches in the diet.
- Microbes
World’s deepest zoo harbors clues to extraterrestrial life
Scientists have found a wide range of life deep below Earth’s surface. The discoveries could help inform our search for life on other planets.
