“Central to the environmental damage caused by plastics is the length of time they take to break down, but researchers are starting to demonstrate how naturally occurring microbes could lend a helping hand. The latest example of this comes from […]
“We are not short of evidence that microbes can survive in space for extensive times. A favored way to find out is to carry out often multinational studies by placing sample organisms on the surface of the International Space Station.” | learn […]
I only recently learned about Flagship Pioneering and I have a small crush on them. They’ve founded over 100 companies, including Moderna (a name you’re hearing often in vaccine context), with 22 IPOs since 2013. Here’s them on plants: “Plants […]
Human digestion is a sticky, complex subject. Even in previous reading on the gut microbiome, I didn’t know how digestion actually worked. Reading Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ by Giulia Enders helped fill in some […]
From birth to old age. National Geographic discusses how the relationship between us and our microbes changes over the various stages of life. [This might be paywalled now, but it worked for me somehow.] | learn more
“Swimming at the low Reynolds numbers experienced by bacteria would be like humans swimming through molasses. … But motile microbes are unhampered. The fastest bacterium … moves at … a showstopping sixty body lengths per second that puts Phelps to […]
Author: Ed Yong What an eye-opener this book is! Microbes like bacteria and archaea are everywhere. They live on pretty much every species and surface. And, their lives impact ours in myriad complex ways. Our species has co-evolved with many […]
“Finnish researchers have created a batch of single-cell protein that is nutritious enough to serve for dinner using a system powered by renewable energy. The entire process requires only electricity, water, carbon dioxide, and microbes.” | learn more