Microbes in cow stomachs can break down plastic

Plastic is notoriously hard to break down, but researchers in Austria have found that bacteria from a cow's rumen—one of the four compartments of its stomach—can digest certain types of the ubiquitous material, representing ...

Using microorganisms to quickly monitor water quality

Researchers from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) have demonstrated a technology that rapidly detects pollutants in water by measuring their impacts on swimming microorganisms.

How 'great' was the great oxygenation event?

Around 2.5 billion years ago, our planet experienced what was possibly the greatest change in its history: According to the geological record, molecular oxygen suddenly went from nonexistent to becoming freely available everywhere. ...

Biodiesel made from discarded cardboard boxes

Automobile exhaust emitted by fossil-fuel-based vehicles, especially those operating on diesel, is known to be a major source of fine dust and greenhouse gases. Using biodiesel instead of diesel is an effective way of coping ...

Scientists probe the role of archaea in the human microbiome

All multicellular living beings carry an unimaginably large number of microorganisms in and on their bodies. The microbiome, i.e. the totality of these microorganisms, forms a unit together with the host organism, the so-called ...

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