Microbes, Bacteria, Viruses

Ramazzottius varieornatus, a species of tardigrade, photographed with scanning electron microscope

Why Are Tardigrades the World's Hardiest Creature? DNA Offers Clues

They may be tiny, but don't let their stubby stature fool you

Little does it know, but getting eaten by a great tit is the least of this grub's worries.

Meet the Supervillain Worm That Gets By With a Little Help From Its Friends

This deadly nematode and its sidekicks reveal the power of bacterial symbiosis

This is an illustration, not a picture, of a virus, because viruses are super small. But a new "VirusCam" promises to be able to see and track individual viruses, potentially leading to breakthroughs for human health.

"VirusCam" Can Watch Individual Viruses to (Someday) Keep You From Getting Sick

Viruses are tiny and hard to see, but a new microscope can track them individually to try to better prevent disease

Researchers tested the fungus that grew in this isolated habitat as four people lived in it for a month.

Space-Bound Humans Bring Fungus Aboard—And the Stowaways Could Cause Trouble

Microscopic life is everywhere, but it could be dangerous for future astronauts bound for Mars

The Bonneville Crater on Mars

Mars Surface May Be Too Toxic for Microbial Life

The combination of UV radiation and perchlorates common on Mars could be deadly for bacteria

The early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic were marked with stigma and confusion.

This Was the First Major News Article on HIV/AIDS

The epidemic’s early days were perplexing and terrifying

A selection of foraminifera, tiny marine creatures that form elaborate shells of calcium carbonate or silica.

These Fanciful Microbes Need Your Coloring Skills

A vast microscopic world writhes around you. Now a coloring book lets you bring wee beasts and beauties to life

Cyanobacteria, sometimes known as blue-green algae, are single-celled organisms that use photosynthesis to produce food just like plants do.

Need to Fix a Heart Attack? Try Photosynthesis

Injecting plant-like creatures into a rat's heart can jumpstart the recovery process, study finds

When it comes to a crowdsourcing campaign, food might be an easier sell than feces. “Food is this amazing platform because we all have a connection to it, we all can relate,” says microbiologist Rachel Dutton. Not that poop isn't relatable, but, you know.

You Are What You Eat, And What You Eat Is Millions of Microbes

Now that they’ve tallied up American feces, researchers are turning to the other half of the microbial equation: food

A nurse suits up in Liberia before entering an Ebola red zone in 2015. Now, a single case of Ebola has been confirmed in Congo by the World Health Organization.

Ebola Returns to the Democratic Republic of Congo

A single death has been confirmed—now public health officials must keep an outbreak from becoming an epidemic

A serpentinite sample

How Low Can Life Go? New Study Suggests Six Miles Down

Evidence of life from below a mud volcano hints at life beneath the crust

The image shows a 6 mm long, 12.5 day old mouse embryo obtained with the Mesolens. The inset shows a blow-up of the eye region revealing the individual cell nuclei. It is possible to identify fine structures throughout the embryo such as the developing heart muscle fibers and fine details in the eye such as the corneal endothelium using the Mesolens.

Let Us Now Praise the Invention of the Microscope

Early scientists wielded this revolutionary tool to study the invisible world of microbes, and even their own semen

A scanning electron microscope image of the water bear.

How the Remarkable Tardigrade Springs Back to Life after Drying Out

A particular protein helps these these tiny critters survive dehydration for over a decade at a time

False-color x-ray of the purported 1.6 billion-year-old red algae

At 1.6 Billion Years Old, These Fossils Could Be the Oldest Complex Life

Three types of ancient red algae-like fossils captivate scientists, but many questions remain

Westgate Park's salt lake has once again turned cotton-candy pink.

Why Did This Australian Lake Turn Bright Pink?

Hot weather, scant rainfall and high salt levels have created a perfect storm for pinkness

Paleo diet? Not so much. Thanks to Neanderthal dental plaque, researchers are getting a much better idea of what our ancestors actually dined on.

Scientists Delve Into Neanderthal Dental Plaque to Understand How They Lived and Ate

The plaque that coated Neanderthal teeth is shedding new light on how our ancestors ate, self-medicated and interacted with humans

How a Soap Opera Virus Felled Hundreds of Students in Portugal

The “Strawberries With Sugar” outbreak is just one example of mass hysteria, which goes back centuries

These tiny filament-like fossils could be the oldest evidence of life on Earth.

Scientists Think They’ve Found the Oldest Fossil Ever

The controversial claim suggests that microbes lived on Earth half a billion years earlier than thought

The beauty of this mutant strain of the fungus Trichoderma reesei belies the organism’s potential for dismantling biomass.

Scientists Make Art From Objects Invisible to the Naked Eye

Sophisticated microscopes, satellites and other instruments can create stunning images in experts’ hands

Seagrass grows near a village in the Spermonde Archipelago in Indonesia. Researchers there recently discovered that coastal areas with seagrass have less bacteria than grassless areas.

Seagrasses Reduce Bacteria in Polluted Waters

A new study suggests the mesmerizing fields could be important for the health of humans and sea creatures alike

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