Archaea are a major domain of prokaryotic microorganisms characterized by unique molecular and biochemical features distinguishing them from Bacteria and Eukarya. Their cell membranes typically contain ether-linked isoprenoid lipids, and their cell walls lack peptidoglycan, instead incorporating diverse polymers such as pseudomurein or S-layer proteins. Archaeal information-processing machinery (DNA replication, transcription, and translation) shows higher homology to eukaryotic systems than to bacterial counterparts. Archaea occupy a wide range of environments, including extreme habitats and moderate ecosystems, and play critical roles in biogeochemical cycles, notably methanogenesis and ammonia oxidation, making them important topics in microbial ecology, evolution, and environmental genomics.
New research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has identified a smarter, more effective way to protect fragile marine ecosystems from invasive species—an approach with global relevance for island regions around the world. ...
Plants & Animals
45 minutes ago
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As California's population boomed—from 10 million in 1950 to over 40 million today—the number of people living in fire-prone areas multiplied. Over the decades, millions of new homes and commercial buildings sprang up to ...
Environment
Jun 5, 2026
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Living in the Dead Sea would be a very unpleasant experience for most creatures. With salt concentration above 30% and temperatures ranging from 10–50°C, it takes unique environmental adaptations to survive in such harsh ...
Evolution
Jun 3, 2026
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Deep beneath the ocean surface, where sunlight never reaches and food is scarce, vast gardens of deep-sea sponges are quietly thriving. Now, a team led by UNSW researchers has uncovered some of the hidden microbial strategies ...
Plants & Animals
May 27, 2026
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Stored in an open-air warehouse in tropical Darwin, Australia, are dozens of trays containing cylindrical cores of rock. They are from drill holes bored hundreds of meters below the surface by mineral exploration companies ...
Evolution
May 23, 2026
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Ringed seals are among the most common marine mammals in the Canadian Arctic. They strongly rely on sea ice as a habitat, breathing through holes they maintain in the frozen surface, giving birth in snow lairs and diving ...
Ecology
May 22, 2026
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Viruses play a far more active role in Earth's carbon cycle than previously understood, according to new research that reveals how they infect and control microbes responsible for carbon production in some of the planet's ...
Earth Sciences
May 14, 2026
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Advances in DNA sequencing have expanded our view of the microbial world, but the inability to cultivate most microbes has been a major constraint. Now, a systematic, predictive framework that combines existing genomic and ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 11, 2026
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The four-foot-tall Emperor penguin of Antarctica may be the most iconic member of this unique family of birds, but 17 other species of penguins populate the Southern Hemisphere, many of them confined to isolated islands that ...
Evolution
May 8, 2026
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So-called rock-eating microorganisms obtain their energy to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) from inorganic sources and make up the vast majority of biomass producers. Using electron microscopy and infrared spectroscopy, a research ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 6, 2026
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