Microbes
Kitchen sponges are bacteria’s dream home
Sponges are favorite spots for bacteria, partly because of the mixed-housing environment that the cleaner-uppers offer microbes.
By Anna Gibbs
Microbes
More Stories in Microbes
-
MicrobesScientists Say: Bacteria
Bacteria get a bad rap for making people sick, but only a tiny portion of these single-celled creatures cause disease.
-
Materials ScienceAnalyze This: This material for 3-D printing is made by microbes
Bacteria with tweaked genes pump out proteins that can be used in a 3-D printer. With microbes in the mix, the living ink can make drugs or suck up chemicals.
-
MicrobesGenes point to how some bacteria can gobble up electricity
A new study shows how some microbes absorb and release electrons — a trait that may point to new fuels or ways to store energy.
-
AnimalsMeat-eating bees have something in common with vultures
Flesh-eating bees have acid-producing gut bacteria, much as vultures do. It lets them safely snack on rotting meat.
-
Materials ScienceBacteria make ‘spider silk’ that’s stronger than steel
Part spider silk, the material is better than what some spiders make. Researchers think it might make the basis for surgical threads or unusually strong fabrics.
-
AnimalsWhat biologists call a species is becoming more than just a name
The tree of life — evolution — has been reshaping how scientists name and classify organisms. Some want naming to reflect evolutionary groups even more.
-
AnimalsTiny animals survive 24,000 years in suspended animation
Tiny bdelloid rotifers awake from a 24,000-year slumber when freed from the Arctic permafrost.
-
EnvironmentWildfire smoke seeds the air with potentially dangerous microbes
Studies now show that most wildfires don’t kill microbes. That’s fueling worries about what risks these smoke hitchhikers might pose to people.
-
MicrobesExplainer: Virus variants and strains
When viruses become more infectious or better able to survive the body’s immune system, they become a type of variant known as a strain.