In these microbes, iron works like oxygen

A pair of papers from a UW–Madison geoscience lab shed light on a curious group of bacteria that use iron in much the same way that animals use oxygen: to soak up electrons during biochemical reactions. When organisms—whether ...

Energy from Earth's interior supports life in global ecosystem

The Earth's oceanic crust covers an enormous expanse, and is mostly buried beneath a thick layer of mud that cuts it off from the surface world. Scientists now document life deep within the oceanic crust that appears to be ...

Dark beer has more iron than pale beer

A team of researchers from the University of Valladolid (Spain) has analysed 40 brands of beer, discovering that dark beer has more free iron than pale and non-alcoholic beers. Iron is essential to the human diet, but also ...

Many roads lead to superconductivity

Since their discovery in 2008, a new class of superconductors has precipitated a flood of research the world over. Unlike the previously familiar copper ceramics (cuprates), the basic structure of this new class consists ...

Iron-sulfur enzymes as candidates for antibiotic development

The iron-sulfur protein IspH plays a central role in the terpene metabolism of several pathogens. The mechanism of the reaction provides an approach for developing new antibiotics, particularly against malaria and tuberculosis. ...

Deep-sea rocks point to early oxygen on Earth

Red jasper cored from layers 3.46 billion years old suggests that not only did the oceans contain abundant oxygen then, but that the atmosphere was as oxygen rich as it is today, according to geologists.

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