Microbiology, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 4, 2019

More Than 100 People Got Legionnaires' at a State Fair. Hot Tubs May Be to Blame.

More than 100 people have fallen ill with Legionnaires' disease after attending a North Carolina state fair last month, and now officials may have found the source of the outbreak: hot tubs. So far, officials have confirmed 116 cases of Legionnaires' disease among people who attended the fair, which took...

Oct 30, 2019

What Turned This Woman's Pee a Striking Shade of Lilac?

A woman who was hospitalized after having a stroke surprised doctors when, 10 days after being admitted, her pee turned purple. Turns out, an unusual chemical reaction can transform urine from its usual yellow to a striking lilac. The bizarre phenomenon, described in a case report published today (Oct. 30)...

Oct 31, 2019

Case of 'Rat Bite Fever' Reminds Us That Even Pet Rats Carry Loads of Diseases

Here's reason No. 1,001 that you shouldn't get too cozy with rats: Even the most adorable of them are still potential disease vectors. That's the takeaway from a newly reported case of a woman who developed rat bite fever, a potentially fatal disease, after being bitten by her pet rat....

Jan 23, 2020

Bacteria hiding in indoor dust could spread antibiotic resistance

Bacteria enter our homes, gyms and workspaces by hitching rides on our skin or blowing in through an open door. Once inside, these invader microbes might help indoor germs in the surrounding dust become resistant to antibiotics, a new study suggests. Antibiotic medications work by disrupting the inner workings of...

Jul 30, 2020

Sleeping microbes wake up after 100 million years buried under the seafloor

Microbes found themselves buried in the dirt 101.5 million years ago, back before even Tyrannosaurus rex when Earth’s biggest meat-eating dinosaur, called Spinosaurus roamed the planet. Time passed, continents shifted, oceans rose and fell, great apes emerged, and eventually human beings evolved with the curiosity and skills to dig up...

Sep 18, 2020

Scientists find 'secret molecule' that allows bacteria to exhale electricity

For mouthless, lungless bacteria, breathing is a bit more complicated than it is for humans. We inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide; Geobacter — a ubiquitous, groundwater-dwelling genus of bacteria — swallow up organic waste and exhale electrons, generating a tiny electric current in the process. Those waste electrons always...

Sep 21, 2020

Live Science podcast 'Life's Little Mysteries' Episode 49: Mysterious Bacteria

In this episode of Life's Little Mysteries, we'll take a closer look at the mysterious single-cell microbes that are simpler than most other organisms, yet are still intriguingly complex: bacteria. What are bacteria and what do they look like? How long have bacteria been around? How do scientists study bacteria,...

Jan 18, 2022

What is the difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells?

The main difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells lies in their structure. Prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells are the two types of cells that exist on Earth. There are several differences between the two, but the biggest distinction between them is that eukaryotic cells have a distinct nucleus containing the...

Feb 14, 2022

What are protists?

Protists are a diverse collection of organisms that do not fit into animal, plant, bacteria or fungi groups. While exceptions exist, they are primarily microscopic and made up of a single cell (unicellular), according to the educational website CK-12. Protists are eukaryotes as they possess a nucleus and other membrane-bound...

Feb 25, 2022

Biggest bacterium ever discovered amazes scientists with its complexity

Scientists discovered an absolutely massive bacterium that can be seen without the aid of a microscope and lurks among the mangroves of Grande-Terre in the Caribbean, Science magazine reported. The single-celled organism can grow up to 0.78 inches (2 centimeters) long and resembles a thin string, according to a report...

Feb 26, 2022

What is an amoeba?

Amoeba is a term that describes a simple eukaryotic organism that moves in a characteristic crawling fashion. However, a comparison of the genetic content of the various amoebas shows that these organisms are not necessarily closely related to each other. What does an amoeba look like?All living organisms can be...

Jun 1, 2023

8 ancient 'zombie viruses' that scientists have pulled from the melting permafrost

Locked away in frigid Arctic soils and riverbeds is a world teeming with ancient microbes. Bacteria and viruses that existed thousands of years ago are frozen in time inside prehistoric layers of permafrost. Warming temperatures could cause much of the ice to melt and unleash these microbes from their frosty...

Jun 7, 2023

Primordial steroids solve long-standing mystery about how the 1st complex life-forms evolved

Steroids discovered in 1.6 billion-year-old rock may help scientists solve a long-standing mystery about the evolution of single-celled life. These compounds are produced by eukaryotic organisms, which are defined by having cells with nuclei and interior organelles bound by membranes. Modern eukaryotes include plants, fungi and animals. In contrast, prokaryotes...

Jul 31, 2023

Bizarre giant viruses with tubular tentacles and star-like shells discovered in New England forest

Giant viruses lurking in the soils of a New England forest sport traits never seen in other viruses of similar heft — from star-like outer shells to bizarre, tubular appendages, according to a preprint study published in bioRxiv. What we found is a whole new diversity of shapes that we...

Sep 29, 2023

After you die, your microbiome cooperates with soil microbes to 'recycle' your body

Each human body contains a complex community of trillions of microorganisms that are important for your health while you’re alive. These microbial symbionts help you digest food, produce essential vitamins, protect you from infection and serve many other critical functions. In turn, the microbes, which are mostly concentrated in your...