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News tagged with microbial

Honoring the fundamental role of microbes in the natural history of our planet

Inspired by a 2009 colloquium on microbial evolution convened at the Galapagos Islands, a new book from ASM Press, Microbes and Evolution: The World That Darwin Never Saw celebrates Charles Darwin and his landmark publication ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 30, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Report details efforts to improve, advance indoor microbial sampling

Humans spend greater than 90 percent of their time indoors, but we're never alone there. Bacteria and viruses, scientists estimate, make up half of the world's biomass—some 10 nonillion (1 followed by ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 30, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Toxic mercury, accumulating in the Arctic, springs from a hidden source

(Phys.org) -- Environmental scientists at Harvard have discovered that the Arctic accumulation of mercury, a toxic element, is caused by both atmospheric forces and the flow of circumpolar rivers that carry ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created May 21, 2012 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists evaluate different antimicrobial metals for use in water filters

Porous ceramic water filters are often coated with colloidal silver, which prevents the growth of microbes trapped in the micro- and nano-scale pores of the filter. Other metals such as copper and zinc have also been shown ...

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created May 24, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 1

New synthetic biology technique boosts microbial production of diesel fuel

(PhysOrg.com) -- Significant boosts in the microbial production of clean, green and renewable biodiesel fuel has been achieved with the development of a new technique in synthetic biology by researchers with ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Mar 26, 2012 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (11) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

Protein analysis investigates marine worm community

(Phys.org) -- Techniques used by researchers from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory to analyze a simple marine worm and its resident bacteria could accelerate efforts to understand more ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 09, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

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

Microbial life on Mars: Could saltwater make it possible?

(PhysOrg.com) -- How common are droplets of saltwater on Mars? Could microbial life survive and reproduce in them? A new million-dollar NASA project led by the University of Michigan aims to answer those questions.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Aug 17, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (9) | comments 16 | with audio podcast

Nutrient supply after algal bloom determines the succession of the bacterial population

Algal blooms can considerably interfere with summer holidays by the sea. In the coastal zone of temperate regions a spring algal bloom is not a sign of excessive nutrient input, but most of all a consequence ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 04, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

A fizzy ocean on Enceladus

For years researchers have been debating whether Enceladus, a tiny moon floating just outside Saturn's rings, is home to a vast underground ocean. Is it wet--or not? Now, new evidence is tipping the scales. ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jan 27, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (29) | comments 52 | with audio podcast

Mojave Desert tests prepare for NASA Mars Roving

(Phys.org) -- Team members of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission took a test rover to Dumont Dunes in California's Mojave Desert this week to improve knowledge of the best way to operate a similar rover, ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created May 14, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0

Scientists grow personalized collections of intestinal microbes

(PhysOrg.com) -- Each of us carries a unique collection of trillions of friendly microbes in our intestines that helps break down food our bodies otherwise couldn't digest.

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Mar 21, 2011 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (8) | comments 4 | 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