News tagged with microbial cells

Last universal common ancestor more complex than previously thought

Scientists call it LUCA, the Last Universal Common Ancestor, but they don't know much about this great-grandparent of all living things. Many believe LUCA was little more than a crude assemblage of molecular parts, a chemical ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Oct 05, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (11) | comments 11 | with audio podcast

Unique salt allows energy production to move inland

Production of energy from the difference between salt water and fresh water is most convenient near the oceans, but now, using an ammonium bicarbonate salt solution, Penn State researchers can combine bacterial ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Mar 01, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (15) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Saltwater boosts microbial electrolysis cells to cleanly produce hydrogen

A grain of salt or two may be all that microbial electrolysis cells need to produce hydrogen from wastewater or organic byproducts, without adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere or using grid electricity, ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Sep 19, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 9 | with audio podcast

Using microbes to generate electricity

Using bacteria to generate energy is a signifiant step closer following a breakthrough discovery by scientists at the University of East Anglia.

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 23, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists identify a deadly tool in Salmonella's bag of tricks

The potentially deadly bacterium Salmonella possesses a molecular machine that marshals the proteins it needs to hijack cellular mechanisms and infect millions worldwide.

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Feb 03, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (9) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Microbial hair -- it's electric: Specialized bacterial filaments shown to conduct electricity

(PhysOrg.com) -- Some bacteria grow electrical hair that lets them link up in big biological circuits, according to a University of Southern California biophysicist and his collaborators.

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Oct 11, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Self-sustaining robot has an artificial gut (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- UK researchers have developed an autonomous robot with an artificial gut that enables it to fuel itself by eating and excreting. The robot is the first bot powered by biomass to be demonstrated ...

Electronics / Robotics

created Jul 20, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (12) | comments 19 | with audio podcast report

Researchers develop living, breathing human lung-on-a-chip (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston have created a device that mimics a living, ...

Medicine & Health / Medical research

created Jun 24, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (9) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Renewable hydrogen production becomes reality at winery

(PhysOrg.com) -- The first demonstration of a renewable method for hydrogen production from wastewater using a microbial electrolysis system is underway at the Napa Wine Company in Oakville. The refrigerator-sized hydrogen ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Sep 29, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (13) | comments 0

Scientists discover multiple gene switches in Salmonella, offer new ways to curb infection

Scientists have discovered multiple gene switches in Salmonella that offer new ways to curb human infection. The discovery of the mechanisms of gene regulation could lead to the development of antibiotics to reduce the le ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Apr 23, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Wastewater produces electricity and desalinates water

A process that cleans wastewater and generates electricity can also remove 90 percent of salt from brackish water or seawater, according to an international team of researchers from China and the U.S.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Aug 06, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (17) | comments 1

Urine could be the answer to cheaper electricity

(PhysOrg.com) -- Urine can be an abundant fuel for electricity generation, according to British scientists in the first study of its kind.

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Nov 01, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (12) | comments 23 | with audio podcast

Onstott's discovery of worms in Earth's depths raises questions about life in space

After digging holes in the Earth's crust for nearly two decades, Princeton University geoscientist Tullis Onstott is now making headlines for unearthing "worms from hell."

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jul 12, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (11) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

New discovery turns seaweed into biofuel in half the time

University of Illinois scientists have engineered a new strain of yeast that converts seaweed into biofuel in half the time it took just months ago. That's a process that's important outside the Corn Belt, said Yong-Su Jin, ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Aug 29, 2011 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (4) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Bacteria -- energy producers of the future? (w/ video)

All of us use water and in the process, a lot of it goes to waste. Whether it goes down drains, sewers or toilets, much of it ends up at a wastewater treatment plant where it undergoes rigorous cleaning before it flows back ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Aug 22, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1 | with audio podcast