For more information about bacteria check the Wikipedia article here
A team of researchers from the US claim they have finally found tangible evidence that will once and for all end the controversy surrounding the Geobacter sulfurreducens, a bacteria that conducts electricity along thin protein filaments, just like a metal. In the scientists’ paper, it’s reported that aromatic amino-acids are central to both the electrical and respiratory functions [...]
Mon, Mar 4, 2013
A team of researchers at Princeton University have devised an experimental set-up that closely mimics the flow of bacteria through working medical devices. Their findings show that bacteria clog medical devices extremely fast – much faster than previously thought – and warrant new strategies and designs in order to counter machine failure. The researchers used [...]
Thu, Feb 28, 2013
Researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine came across a particular strain of bacteriophage – a virus that infects and replicates within bacteria – that had stolen the functional immune system of the cholera bacteria. The virus used the bacteria’s immune system against it to replicate and eventually kill the bacteria. The findings hint to the prospect of developing new [...]
Tue, Jan 29, 2013
It’s a bird! No, it’s a plane! No, it’s… microbes ?! High up in the atmosphere, 10.000 meters above ground, researchers have found over 100 species of bacteria doing just fine in stormy clouds. Each year, hundreds of millions of tons of dust, water and man-maned pollutans make their way into the atmosphere, often traveling [...]
Thu, Dec 13, 2012
About one in three breads is thrown away because it gets too tough and infected, and thus inedible, because of mold. Scientists at an American company have found a way to keep bread fresh for up to two months after they zapped it in a sophisticated microwave array. This killed the bacteria and fungi that [...]
Wed, Nov 14, 2012
The reason why we don’t trade with gold, diamonds or cheese is because these do no offer the exact interchangeable value. Money the other hands, does. If you loaned someone with $50, and the other person returned the money all in coins for instance, you’d still have the same exact value back in your hands. A new [...]
Wed, Nov 14, 2012
According to researchers, thousands and thousands of bacteria types (some new to science) can be found in your belly button – but don’t worry: “it’s quite beautiful”, they say. A pristine environment The belly button is one of the microbial habitats closest to us, yet it remains relatively unexplored. Rob Dunn and his team analyzed [...]
Tue, Nov 13, 2012
Bacteria biofilms, when formed, pose a significant health risk in industrial applications, like food processing, and medical settings. Researchers at MIT suggest a new weapon for fighting bacterial formations in the form of nature’s own line of defense – mucus. Mucus lines most of the wet surfaces of the body, including the respiratory and digestive tracts, [...]
Thu, Oct 25, 2012
In an extremely exciting find, scientists at Aarhus University in Denmark found a type of bacteria that creates electrical currents on the sea floor. Despite the lack of air or sun light, these tiny bacteria flourish and form vast swaths of electrically pulsating multi-cellular organisms. The researchers found that the bacteria breaks down substances in deeper sediments [...]
Thu, Oct 4, 2012
Remember when, in 2010, we told you about a team of researchers which claimed they found a bacteria that feasts on arsenic, instead of phosphorous? The study has spurred quite the discussion, receiving a lot of both criticism and praise, but seeming to be, ultimately, incorrect (as this other study also claims). Dan Tawfik, who [...]
Mon, Jul 23, 2012
In what can only be described as a milestone in biological and genetic engineering, scientists at Stanford University have, for the first time ever, simulated a complete bacterium. With the organism completely in virtual form, the scientists can perform any kind of modification on its genome and observe extremely quickly what kind of changes would [...]
Thu, Jun 14, 2012
By creating this microbiome catalog, researchers hope to figure out the complex interactions between the countless microbes in our bodies and our immune system. As many already know, germs are not always bad for you – in fact, they are sometimes necessary for a healthy body. But regardless how careless or careful you are with [...]
Fri, Jan 27, 2012
Darwin’s theory of natural selection illustrates perfectly what evolution is all about, the survival of the fittest if you will. It’s because of natural selection that a crocodile has an armor-like skin to protect it against enemies, a chameleon can change its color and camouflage itself for protection and hunting or humans evolved a more [...]
Fri, Jan 27, 2012
Researchers studying marine bacteria in the Bahamas’ underwater caves, have made some remarkable discoveries which allowed to understand how these organisms adapt and thrive in rather precarious conditions. Their study might help scientists understand how marine life formed for the first time millions of years in the past, as well as hint how marine life [...]
Tue, Nov 29, 2011
We at ZME Science love futuristic designs, but above all we love innovative energy efficient solutions. The latest avantgarde lighting set-up from Philips would fit better in an art gallery than in a home, however what it lacks in practicability, it more than makes up in beauty, and moreover in principle – that energy is [...]
Thu, Oct 20, 2011
Scientists at London’s Imperial College have successfully managed to create biological logic gates, indispensible for the production of electronical devices, simply our of bacteria and DNA. Though the research detailed in a recently published study in the journal Nature Communications was anything but simple, it provides an incredible advancement in the field of biotechnology. “Logic [...]
Wed, Sep 7, 2011
Ever since uranium has been mined and atomic bombs have been tested, some areas have had to deal with the contamination of sediments and groundwaters by toxic soluble uranium. Now, this problem could be solved with filaments growing from a specific bacteria. Some clean-up methods already use the bacteria to solidify Uranium in sediments, but [...]
Tue, Aug 23, 2011
The oldest, up to now, fossil has been found recently by a team of Australian and UK geologists, who claim that they’ve managed to discover micro-organism remnants as old as 3.5 billion years. These tiny living cells were actually sulfur feeding bacteria, which didn’t need any kind of oxygen to survive. The fossils were found [...]
Tue, Jun 28, 2011
As you probably (and should) know already, symbiosis is a close interaction (often long term) between different species, both of which have something to win from this deal. But symbiosis between animals and bacteria… that’s definitely something new. Marine sandy bottoms This kind of environment seems dead, desert-like and empty, but if you were to [...]
Mon, May 2, 2011
Some species of bacteria can survive virtually anywhere: in acids, in nuclear waste, at extremely low or high temperatures, at extreme pressures, and so on; extreme microbes that survive on gases thrown out by Siberian hot springs may have played an extremely important role in the formation of our planet’s atmosphere and its composition, a [...]
Wed, Apr 27, 2011
We already know about numerous extremophiles, microbes that can live in incredibly extreme conditions, which would easily kill almost every other creature. There are bacteria which survive in extremely high or low temperatures, in substances with an extreme pH, surrounded by nothing but solid rock, in the depths of the ocean, and so on. But [...]
Fri, Apr 15, 2011
Staphylococcus aureus is a nasty fellow; it can be responsible for a variety of diseases, and it’s pretty resistant to a variety of treatments. But sometimes, it can get an upgrade, and become way more resistant to drugs, which means the staph bacteria becomes much more dangerous and much less treatable. So it’s definitely not [...]
Thu, Mar 24, 2011
Five years ago, an outbreak of a mysterious and deadly disease in central China first started alarming local authorities when an alarmingly high mortality rate was linked to it. At first, the outbreak was considered to be bacterial, namely human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA), carried by infected ticks that passed the deadly disease on to farmers [...]
Sun, Feb 20, 2011
With each passing year, science is becoming more and more visual, and the pictures we get to see are more and more spectacular; from horror movie viruses, to nanolandscapes or computer simiulations, these are the winners of the 2010 Science and Engineering Visual Challenge.
Mon, Dec 6, 2010
As I was telling you before, NASA got everybody hyped when they announced a big conference on the topic of finding alien life; of course everybody’s mind started flying to aliens and ET and all that, but more realistic people realized that something like this is extremely unlikely. However, pretty much everybody was shocked when [...]
Thu, Sep 23, 2010
According to a newly published study, it seems that rubbing your hands together in a hand dryer actually leaves them coated with more bacteria than immediately after washing. “When you rub your hands, you bring a lot of bacteria to the surface from the pores of your skin,” says Anna Snelling of the University of [...]
Wed, May 26, 2010
Mycobacterium vaccae is a type of bacteria that naturally leaves in soil and has been in the attention of researchers for a while now, due to the fact that it decreases anxiety. Recent studies sugest that in fact, it also stimulates neuron growth and thus intelligence and the ability to learn. Dorothy Matthews and Susan [...]
Thu, Feb 11, 2010
For years and years (good) doctors have warned about the dangers of taking antibiotics too lightly, which generally causes ‘bugs’ to be more resistant. More recently, a study conducted by researchers from Boston University showed that microbes are a lot like us: what doesn’t kill them makes them stronger, and this could have extreme consequences. [...]
Thu, Jan 7, 2010
Mankind is screwing up. I’m sorry, that’s just the way it is. Not taking care of our natural resources, polluting and destroying habitats, it’s obvious that we, as a species, made some pretty big mistakes, the combined effects of which will come back to haunt us (and already are). But that’s not to say that [...]
Thu, Dec 17, 2009
Just like many categories of people, I’ve recently been (insistently) offered a free flu shot. I said no. Without going into the reasons that determined me to do this, let’s look at what would determine the average bacteria to do the same thing, at least according to Tel Aviv University bacteria expert Prof. Eshel Ben-Jacob. [...]
Sat, Nov 15, 2008
Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA for short) is a thermoplastic and transparent plastic that’s called acrylic glass for short. In the not so distant future it could be made from natural products such as sugars, alcohols or fatty acids. This process is much more environmentally friendly than the process used now. PMMA is manufactured by polymerising methyl [...]
Fri, Nov 14, 2008
You may find it very hard to believe that for over 200 years, scientists have known that bleach kills germs without being able to understand how this happens. Just a few days ago U.S. scientists managed to find how bleach does its dirty work. The active ingredient is hypochlorous acid (HOCl); this acid attacks the [...]
Sat, Aug 23, 2008
Bacteria have sometimes behaviour that can amaze scientists, by its complexity and efficiency. Salmonella can commit suicide and help their “brothers” to establish infections that are more damaging, thus helping their species. But scientists believe they have found the answer to this surprising kamikaze behavior. This phenomenon which is called self-destructive cooperation often helps Salmonella [...]
Some photos of the amazing sun halo hovering over NYC
Record level atmospheric CO2. Reaches 400 ppm for the first time in 3 million years
Your brain detects grammar errors even when you’re not aware of them
First mathematical proof that prime numbers come in infinite pairs
CT scan images caterpillar to butterfly metamorphosis in 3-D
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Thu, Mar 28, 2013
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