Analyses of microbial activity in seawater samples help clarify the fate of methane released from the seafloor.
bacteria & microbes
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Did Bacterial Enzymes Cap the Oxygen in Early Earth’s Atmosphere?
A new theory suggests that nitrogenase from cyanobacteria could be the reason oxygen levels remained low after the Great Oxidation Event.
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New Tool Reveals That Soils Are Teeming with Active Microbes
BONCAT, a new type of amino acid tagging, highlights and categorizes active soil microbes in situ.
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Paleontologists Peer Inside Billion-Year-Old Cells
Scientists have discovered the fossilized remains of Precambrian cells extraordinarily preserved with the rare earth element phosphates monazite and xenotime.
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The Jail That Keeps Oxygen in the Air
Oxygen shouldn’t be in the air we breathe. But it is, and the reason why is almost criminal.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Understanding Stream Metabolism with Reactive Tracers
When the blue dye resazurin encounters living microorganisms, it transforms into fluorescent pink resorufin and helps scientists understand ecosystem respiration, but it has its limitations.
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Healing Power of Clay? Not as Off-the-Wall as You Might Think
An ancient folk remedy, blue-green iron-rich clay, kills antibiotic-resistant bacteria using a one-two punch, a new study shows.
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Tiny Algae May Have Prompted a Mass Extinction
Dead algae sinking to the ocean floor may have sequestered carbon 445 million years ago, triggering the glaciation that accompanied the Late Ordovician mass extinction.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Australian Algae Aid Understanding of Ecosystem Resilience
Wildfires may have driven a critical ecosystem transition in Tasmania’s Lake Vera more than 800 years ago.
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Images Suggest a Viral Role in Some Rock Formation
Viruses might have helped transform dense bacterial colonies into a type of sedimentary rock that is frequently associated with underground oil reserves.