Microbes
- 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.
- Climate
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.
- Ecosystems
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.
- Life
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.
- Chemistry
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.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Extremophile
Some species can survive high heat, freezing cold or other extreme environments. Scientists call these organisms extremophiles.
- Chemistry
New rules point scientists toward next-gen germ-killers
Shape and other features help germ-killing drugs make it through barriers to enter bacteria. Knowing how they do this could lead to more and better better antibiotics.
- Genetics
Cool Jobs: New tools to solve crimes
Future investigators may identify criminals by the microbes they leave behind or by using DNA-like evidence from strands of their hair.
- Health & Medicine
Plant extract mutes germs to fight infections
A plant extract prevents the aggressive behavior seen in some germs. Using it could fight the development of most bladder infections, a teen’s research suggests.
- Microbes
Tweaked germs glow to pinpoint buried landmines
Finding landmines could become much safer with a new technology. It uses genetically modified bacteria that glow under laser light.
- Animals
These killer whales exhale sickening germs
A group of endangered killer whales are exhaling disease-causing germs. Researchers worry these microbes could make the animals sick.
