Environment
News: Melting Ice Sheets Are Releasing Toxins in Our Water — Bacteria Could Take Some of That Out of Play
Windborne microbes shifting in the snows of the great ice sheet of Greenland may be able to neutralize some of the industrial contaminants oozing out of the melting ice.
News: Soil Microbes Are Key to Understanding Climate Change on (& in) The Ground
That soil under your feet is not just dirt. It is teeming with life that may not change as fast as we would like when challenged by global warming.
News: Another Reason to Wash Your Sheets—Deadly Hospital Fungus Linked to Moldy Linens
Six people have died from fungal infections in Pittsburgh hospitals since 2014—that fact is indisputable. The rest of the situation is much vaguer. A lawsuit has been filed against the hospitals on behalf of some of the deceased patients, alleging that moldy hospital linens are to blame. While the lawyers argue over who's at fault, let's look at how this could have happened.
Soil Science: How Microbes Make Compost to Feed the Soil
Are you looking for a little microbe magic? Think composting. Composting is a great way to reuse food and plant waste that you would otherwise throw into the trash, which would just end up in a landfill somewhere. During the composting cycle, microbes reduce this organic waste until it can be fed back into the soil as rich, crumbly compost. When returned to the soil, compost feeds plants and improves the nature of life underground. Sound like a great idea? It is — and it's easy.
News: Microbots to the Rescue! Swimming Bots Kill Bad Water Microbes
Look no further than Flint, Michigan, to discover the serious consequences of contaminated drinking water. Around the world, water polluted by pathogens and toxins sickens people or cuts them off from safe drinking water. Looking for a solution, researchers created tiny, swimming robots that pack a powerful punch against waterborne pathogens.
News: How Livestock Farts Lead to a Warmer Climate
When it comes to global warming, most of us think of carbon dioxide emissions. While carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide emissions have stayed constant for the last three years. On the other hand, methane, the second most important gas, has been steadily rising since 2007.
News: Sponge Bacteria Clean Heavy Metals & Toxins Like Arsenic from Water, Saving Turtles & Humans Alike
Arsenic occurs naturally in the environment, but it is also one of the most commonly found heavy metals in wastewater, deposited there by inappropriate disposal and arsenical pesticides, for example.
News: How El Niño—& Climate Change—Kill People with Virus Epidemics
Using mathematical modeling, researchers suggest weather and warming created the "perfect storm" that drove the Zika outbreak in 2016.
News: Airlines' Reliance on Group Boarding Could Spread Pandemics
On the airplane, in the middle of cold and flu season, your seatmate is spewing, despite the clutch of tissues in their lap. Your proximity to an infectious person probably leaves you daydreaming (or is it a nightmare?) of pandemics and estimating how likely it is that this seatmate's viral or bacterial effusions will circulate throughout the plane and infect everyone on board.
News: Hold That Breath — Fungus Goes Airborne Easier Than We Thought
Add breathing in your house as another possible danger to your health. If your home is sick, it's possible you could get sick too.
News: Glowing Bacteria Can Help Locate Devastating Hidden Land Mines
Devastating and deadly, land mines are a persistent threat in many areas of the world. Funding to clear regions of land mines has been decreasing, but new research may offer a less dangerous method of locating hidden, underground explosives by using glowing bacteria.
News: How Researchers Could Use Bacteria to Determine Time of Death
When a dead body is discovered, finding out when the person died is just as important as finding out how the person died. Determining the time of death has always involved lots of complicated scientific detective work and less-than-reliable methods. However, a study by Nathan H. Lents, a molecular biologist at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, is the first of its kind to show how microbes colonize a body's ears and nose after death.
News: Rising Tide of Dust in the US Could Mean Public Health Menace
Blowing dust and fungal spores are creating a public health problem that could be just a slice of what's to come with climate change.
News: Termite Guts May Hold the Key to More Efficient Biofuels
Termite poop and biofuels — what's the connection? New research into termites' intestinal comings and goings describes a process that may speed the development and lower the cost of fuels made from plant matter.
News: How a Vaccine Could Protect Florida's Orange Trees
A disease called "citrus greening" has devastated and permanently altered citrus production in the United States, but a vaccine that could protect orange trees may be part of a winning strategy to beat the bacteria that is killing the trees.
Deadlier When Hot: These Infections Are Likely to Get Worse as the Climate Changes
When the climate changes, so do all the things that rely on the climate, including people, plants, and pathogens. A European study recently took a broad look at what kind of microorganisms are most likely to be affected as climate change heats, cools, dries, and wets the world around us.
News: Latest Research Cements Link Between Climate Change & West Nile Outbreaks
A recent study underscores a connection between climate change and infectious disease, raising concerns about our quickly warming planet.
News: A Beach Infected with Fecal Coliform Can Ruin Your Vacation, but Seagrasses Can Save the Day
Seagrass may help your favorite beach stay a little less toxic. A new study, led by Joleah Lamb, a postdoctoral researcher in the Harvell Lab at Cornell University, found that coastal seagrasses reduce levels of pathogens dangerous to humans and marine organisms in near-shore waters.
News: Study Finds HIV Family of Viruses Far Older Than Civilization
To shine light on the future of the relationship between humans and viruses, a team of researchers from the University of Oxford looked into the dim and distant past.
News: This Paper-Thin Foldable Battery Is Powered by Bacteria
In the perpetual search for a renewable and convenient energy source, our bacterial friends have once again stolen the limelight.