New Atlas

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New study finds oldest evidence of life may just be boring old rocks after all

Michael Irving October 17, 2018

A few years ago, researchers studying stromatolites in Greenland dated them to 3.7 billion years old, making them the oldest evidence of life on Earth. However, a new study has now taken another look at the rocks and found that they probably weren’t biological in origin.

An earlier study found the conical structures (highlighted) appeared to be biological in origin, but a ...

Biology

Could a microbial "Noah's Ark" save good gut bugs from disappearing?

Michael Irving October 8, 2018

Maintaining the right microbial balance is crucial to your health, but antibiotics and poor diet have reduced the diversity of human microbiota. To preserve that diversity before it’s gone for good, a team of scientists is now calling for the creation of a microbial “Noah’s Ark.”

To protect microbiota diversity and, by extension, human health, researchers have suggested creating a microbial "Noah's ...

Biology

The weird and wonderful animals, plants and microbes on ESF's annual top new species list

Rich Haridy May 23, 2018

This year’s ESF list of the top new species discovered over the past 12 months features a bizarre beetle that lives undercover among ants, a fish living deeper in the ocean than ever thought possible, and a previously undiscovered single-celled organism found in an aquarium in California.

Pongo tapanuliensis is the first new non-human great ape species identified in nearly a century

Biology

How hardy volcanic microbes helped track down an anti-aging "superhero" protein

Michael Irving May 16, 2018

Scientists studying tough microbes called archaea may have uncovered the key to an anti-aging drug. By manipulating a “super hero” protein, the researchers found a way to “trick” cells into acting younger by keeping the DNA repairing process running much longer than usual.

Hardy microbes that make their home in volcanic pools may hold the key to a new ...

Space

Are mysterious dark patches in Venusian clouds microbial life?

Rich Haridy April 3, 2018

A new study from an international team of scientists proposes that microbial life could exist in the clouds of Venus. The exciting hypothesis suggests mysterious dark patches seen in the atmosphere could be something akin to algae blooms seen in oceans on Earth.

A composite image of the planet Venus showing the mysterious clouds that could be home to ...

Biology

How a hungry, hardy bacteria eats toxic metals and excretes gold nuggets

Michael Irving February 2, 2018

If the goose that laid the golden egg had a real-life counterpart, it would be C. metallidurans. This bacterium consumes toxic metals and excretes tiny gold nuggets, but how and why has never been fully understood. Now researchers have peered inside the microorganism and figured out that mechanism.

German and Australian researchers have figured out how a bacteria called C. metallidurans can consume toxic ...

Space

How to turn astronaut waste into food

David Szondy January 26, 2018

How to feed astronauts on long space voyages is a major logistical problem, so researchers at Penn State are studying how to convert solid and liquid human waste into food. That may sound gross, but microbial reactors can break down the waste and convert it into an edible form.

The researchers grew Methylococcus capsulatus that was 52 percent protein and 36 percent fats

Science

Are non-toxic food preservatives having an adverse effect on our gut bacteria?

Rich Haridy December 18, 2017

A new study from a team at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has found that some non-toxic food preservatives, added to food for antimicrobial properties, could be unexpectedly and adversely interacting with out gut microbiome.

A new study suggests that certain food preservatives, previously deemed to be safe, could be having ...

Biology

99 percent of microbes in your body are completely unknown to science

Michael Irving August 23, 2017

A dizzying number of microbes call the human body home, and it turns out that science knows very little about most of them.

A Stanford study has found that 99 percent of the microbes inside the human body are ...

Medical

Newly discovered gut microbe could treat diseases beyond the stomach, such as MS

Nick Lavars August 10, 2017

We tend to think of bacteria as bad news, but some types found in our stomaches can bring great health benefits. Now, scientists have discovered a gut microbe that could be used to treat diseases outside the stomach, presenting new territory for these belly-dwelling bacteria.

The newly discovered microbe is called Prevotella histicola and could one day be used to treat ...