Cyanobacteria Could Revolutionize the Plastic Industry Microbiologists at the University of Tübingen modify bacteria to produce climate-neutral and rapidly degradable bioplastics. Cyanobacteria produce plastic naturally…
Scientists have determined the structure of the protein complex that gives cyanobacteria their unique ability to convert weak, filtered sunlight into usable energy. Their findings…
Researchers have copied the way organisms produce toxic chemicals without harming themselves, paving the way for greener chemical and fuel production. The new technique, pioneered…
New Technique Could Speed Search for Life in Outer Space Scientists have developed a new method for detecting oxygen in exoplanet atmospheres that may accelerate…
Millions of tons of plastic trash are fouling the world’s ocean, most of it tiny pieces of microplastic less than a quarter-inch in size. Even…
University of Oklahoma geoscientists document the role of atmospheric dust on marine ecosystems 300 million years ago. Dust plays a crucial role in the life…
The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over the green algae blooms swirling around the Baltic Sea. ‘Algae bloom’ is the term used to describe the…
Breathing? Thank Volcanoes, Tectonics and Bacteria Earth’s breathable atmosphere is key for life, and a new study suggests that the first burst of oxygen was…
Researchers find familiar species pave the way for coral regrowth. In contrast to most other species, reef-dwelling parrotfish populations boom in the wake of severe…
You’ve probably seen a lichen, even if you didn’t realize it. If you’ve ever meandered through the forest and wondered what the crusty stuff on…
The ability to transform sunlight into energy is one of nature’s more remarkable feats. Scientists understand the basic process of photosynthesis, but many crucial details…
Any permanent human space settlement will require beneficial microbes. With the recent celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo program’s first landing of humans…
Like our oceans, today’s continents are brimming with life. Yet billions of years ago, before the advent of plants, continents would have appeared barren. These…
The discovery changes our understanding of the basic mechanism of photosynthesis and should rewrite the textbooks. It will also tailor the way we hunt for…
So much for survival of the fittest – diversity is the key: a team of researchers from the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries…
A new experiment by Elizabeth Swanner evaluating the reduction of iron in prehistoric oceans may reinterpret the conditions under which iron-rich sedimentary rock is formed….
Ancient microbes may have been producing oxygen through photosynthesis a billion years earlier than we thought, which means oxygen was available for living organisms very…
Take a good look at these photos: They show you 1.6 billion years old fossilized oxygen bubbles, created by tiny microbes in what was once…