Microbiology

CSI: A 'Microbial Clock' May Help Determine Time Of Death

A new study finds that a 'microbial clock' may help forensic scientists who are attempting to determine the time of death in cases involving human corpses.  The 'clock' in this instance is essentially the lock-step succession of bacter ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 24 2013 - 4:33pm

Oceanic Crust Shows Evidence Of Microscopic Life

The bottom of the deep ocean is not the most hospitable place in the world, but it is not devoid of life either. Scientists have recently documented that oxygen is disappearing from seawater circulating through deep oceanic crust, a possible step in under ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 27 2013 - 9:00am

Cold, Salty And Promiscuous In Antarctica

In Antarctica's Vestfold Hills, Deep Lake has been isolated from the ocean for the last 3,500 years ago, a result of Antarctic continent rising that has left a saltwater ecosystem that remains liquid, even in extreme cold. ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 1 2013 - 6:30am

Fight Fat With Botox

Nothing says weight loss like botulism. Obesity is a growing problem across the globe. Being overweight can lead to severe diseases and conditions, like diabetes and heart problems. The World Health Organization estimates that obesity is responsible for 2 ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 14 2013 - 7:00am

Raw Milk Not Worth The Risk- Study

As a kid, I drank raw milk. It didn't kill me. If I got sick from it, I have no idea, kids get sick from lots of things and just want to get back to playing baseball, we weren't thinking about how we got ill. ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Dec 13 2013 - 12:42pm

HDM-4: New Substance Kills Multi-Resistant Bacteria

Since their invention, antibiotics have made it possible to cure lethal bacterial infections but in recent years the efficacy of antibiotics has been drastically reduced due to overuse and resulting bacterial resistance. Today, bacteria resistant to nearl ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 30 2013 - 10:01am

Horseshoe Bats In China Confirmed As SARS Origin

A team of international scientists has isolated a very close relative of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) from horseshoe bats in China, confirming them as the origin of the virus responsible for the 2002-3 pandemi, which killed ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 31 2013 - 11:02am

Haloferax Volcanii: It's Life, Jim, But Not As We Know It

A rudimentary form of life, Haloferax volcanii, part of the family of single-celled organisms called archaea that until recently were thought to be a type of bacteria, is found in some of the harshest environments on earth. Now researchers have determined ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 4 2013 - 11:49am

Intestinal Bacteria Linked To Rheumatoid Arthritis

Researchers have linked Prevotella copri, a species of intestinal bacteria, to the onset of rheumatoid arthritis, the first demonstration in humans that the chronic inflammatory joint disease may be mediated in part by specific intestinal bacteria. ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 5 2013 - 3:01pm

Hydrogenotaxis: Methane-Producing Methanococcus Maripaludis Swims To Hydrogen

A new study has affirmed the hypothesis that microorganisms which produce methane swim toward the hydrogen gas they need to stay alive. ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 10 2013 - 8:00am