microbiology
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Half The DNA On The NYC Subway Matches No Known Organism
The results of a massive new DNA sequencing project on the New York City subway have just been published. And yup, there’s a lot of bacteria on the subway — though we know most of it is harmless. What’s really important, though, is what we don’t know about it.
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Electricity-Eating Bacteria Are Real And More Common Than We Thought
In the extreme world of bacteria, stunts such as living in hot springs or without oxygen are, like, totally unimpressive. But then there are bacteria that live off electricity, feeding directly on naked electrons. Even more surprisingly, scientists are finding that these bacteria are not even that rare.
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What Happens To Bacteria In Space?
In the otherwise barren space 350km above Earth’s surface, a capsule of life-sustaining oxygen and water orbits at 27,000km/h. You might know this capsule as the International Space Station (ISS), currently home to six humans — and untold billions of bacteria. Microbes have always followed us to the frontiers, but it’s only now that scientists…
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Whoa, Watch Bacteria Instantly Turn Water Into Ice
Believe it or not, making ice is more complicated than just making water really cold. One thing that helps is bacteria. Yes, bacteria! In this captivatingly magic video, it takes just a second for Pseudomonas syringae to turn a whole jar of water into ice.