Microbes
- Physics
Bacteria help water effortlessly go with the flow
By adding bacteria to water, scientists were able to make a fluid flow with almost no resistance.
- Chemistry
Bacteria become source of ‘greener’ blue jeans
Manufacturing indigo to dye blue jeans now relies on harmful chemicals. But researchers have found a less polluting way to produce the blue tint: bacteria.
- Health & Medicine
How this vitamin can foster pimples
Oh no! Vitamin B12 can cause skin bacteria to secrete chemicals that cause zits.
- Health & Medicine
New ways to fight the flu
Influenza sickens millions each year. A worldwide epidemic could kill many of them. Fortunately, new ways to fight the flu offer hope — before it’s too late.
- Health & Medicine
A germ stopper for blood products
A new system can disable almost all viruses or bacteria that are lurking in donated blood platelets and plasma.
- Health & Medicine
MERS virus hits South Korea hard
MERS — a killer viral disease — emerged for the first time only three years ago. That was in the Middle East. Now it has spread to Asia.
- Microbes
Explainer: What is a virus?
Viruses cause many of the world’s common diseases. These germs reproduce by hijacking the cells of their host.
- Animals
Biowarfare saves bats from killer fungus
Good news for bats. Those infected with white-nose syndrome may be cured by a brief exposure to fumes from therapeutic bacteria.
- Microbes
The bugs within us
Hordes of bacteria live inside people and other animals. This ‘microbiome’ can affect the development of the blood-brain barrier, food choices — even mating.
- Microbes
News Brief: Ebola’s dead stay infectious for a week
The Ebola virus doesn’t die with its victims — at least not right away. A corpse may host live virus for up to a week after death, a new study finds.
- Microbes
Making a microbe subway map
We are surrounded by bacteria, fungi and other tiny organisms. Now, high school scientists have contributed to the first map of microbes in the New York subway system.
- Microbes
New virus may have given kids polio-like symptoms
More than 100 U.S. children developed a paralyzing illness in 2014. Genetic evidence now suggests that the most likely culprit is a new form of a virus in the polio family.
