Microbes
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Health & MedicineCrickets for breakfast?
In a small trial, levels of beneficial gut bacteria rose in young adults who ate a breakfast that included crickets every day for two weeks.
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PlanetsFinding living Martians just got a bit more believable
What might a real Martian look like? Scientists have a better idea after identifying a buried liquid lake on the Red Planet.
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Health & MedicineDogs carry a grab bag of flu viruses
Dogs carry a mix of flu viruses, including some that came from pigs. But there’s no reason to worry just yet.
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MicrobesNom, nom! These bacteria eat antibiotics for lunch
Some soil microbes don’t just break down antibiotics, they can eat them too. Scientists have found one way they do it.
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MicrobesAnalyze This: These viruses are behemoths
Scientists keep finding larger and larger viruses. Just how big can these microbes get?
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BrainBelly bacteria can shape mood and behavior
Our guts and our brains are in constant communication with the goal of managing a whole lot more than food digestion. Their conversations can affect stress, behaviors — even memory.
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TechBad food? New sensors will show with a glow
Sensors that glow around dangerous germs could be built into packaging to warn people of tainted foods.
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Health & MedicineScientists discover how norovirus hijacks the gut
Noroviruses make people vomit, but scientists didn’t actually know why. It now turns out that those viruses cause their misery by attacking special “tuft” cells in the gut.
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Health & MedicineWhich bacteria hang out in belly buttons? Here’s a who’s who
Bacteria are everywhere — even in our belly buttons. One teen at Intel ISEF decided to find out what types people were harboring in their navels.
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ChemistryHuman waste could power plastic-making in space
Someday recycled urine and exhaled breath could feed specially engineered yeast to make plastics and other useful chemicals on long space missions.
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Materials ScienceHairy nanoparticles put viruses in a deadly embrace
Current drugs can’t stop viruses for good. But newly developed hairy nanoparticles just might. They surround and put pressure on the viruses, which ultimately destroys them.
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SpaceMost Americans would welcome a microbial E.T.
People are more likely to welcome than be scared by new evidence pointing to extraterrestrial life, Americans report — at least if the E.T.’s are tiny.