Microbes

A newly discovered microbe identified in wild mosquito populations in Kenya has been found to protect the insects from malaria infection and could be recruited for malaria control strategies to limit transmission of the disease into human populations.

Life continually outdoes expectations. A new study from MIT has found that E. coli and yeast can survive in an atmosphere made up of 100 percent hydrogen – and that could have fascinating implications for life on other planets.

We keep finding life thriving under conditions we’d previously ruled out. The latest example comes from studies of rock cores drilled from the floor of the Indian Ocean, where microbes were discovered alive and well under almost half a mile of rock.

The Mars 2020 rover will be touching down in Jezero Crater and now there’s more evidence this was a good choice. Two new studies have found that the landing site is rich in minerals that could preserve fossils of ancient microbes and other lifeforms.

Researchers at Rice University have developed a new air filter made of graphene foam, which can kill captured microbes with small zaps of electricity.

Antibiotics aren’t picky, blasting good and bad bacteria alike and messing up the delicate balance of the gut microbiome. But now researchers have developed a more targeted approach, with drugs that are able to zero in on specific species of bacteria.

Stand by to start space mining – not on an asteroid, but aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The experimental mining kit will use bacteria to study how microorganisms can be used to extract minerals and metals from rocks on asteroids, moons, and planets.

Modern Mars is a desolate husk of a planet, as far as life is concerned. But it’s not completely uninhabitable, since microbes could be hiding in the cracks of rocks and dirt. And now a new study has found a possible food source for these organisms – space dust.

It’s been suggested in the past that life could hitch a ride on asteroids or comets to jump from world to world – a process known as panspermia. Now, a Harvard team has calculated just how likely that scenario would be throughout the Milky Way. In short: extremely.

Livestock like sheep and cows are responsible for huge amounts of methane emissions. Now, an international team of researchers has analyzed the gut microbes of different sheep and found clues that may help us curb the problem.

Alien life is almost certainly out there somewhere, but because it’s most likely microscopic, it won’t be easy to spot. Now, researchers at the University of Illinois have come up with a new and fairly obvious sign of life: pasta-shaped rocks.

Scientists have just put the finishing touches on what they say is the first comprehensive catalog of bacteria and fungi living inside the ISS, describing a bacteria-filled environment not dissimilar to a gym or an office.