Microbiology – Page 81

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Don't Hate Bacteria Irrationally

June 2, 2012

It should be well known by now that we are surrounded by bacteria, mostly benign, all the time -- inside and out. Some reporters still attempt to gross out the public and make misleading statements from scientific findings.

Bible and Theology

Spiders Can Cross Oceans

May 31, 2012

Why did the spider cross the ocean? To colonize the Old World after it "originated" in the New World.

Amazing Facts

Bacteria as a Vast Unexplored Medicine Chest

May 28, 2012

Most of our therapeutic agents have been derived from bacteria. A new survey shows we have barely tapped the surface of potential medicines beneath our feet.

Amazing Facts

Ready, Aim, Flower

May 26, 2012

How does a plant know the time to flower? A new study describes a process involving genes, sunlight sensors, switches, clocks, feedback loops and messages.

Darwin and Evolution

Butterfly Mimics Don't Evolve; They Share

May 16, 2012

A non-evolutionary explanation has been found for a classic evolutionary showpiece: mimicry in butterflies.

Cell Biology

New Chirality Solution Proposed

May 9, 2012

It's long been a mystery why cells use one hand of two-handed molecules, like left-handed amino acids and right-handed sugars. A new proposal solves the mystery, explaining how this phenomenon called homochirality arises naturally. Wait a minute...

Darwin and Evolution

Evolution for Men and Women

May 8, 2012

Two recent entries in the evolution literature have application to one sex or the other.

Amazing Facts

Stem Cells Getting Healthier

May 6, 2012

Over the past decade, stem cells have been a hot news item. Here are some late breaking news stories about them.

Darwin and Evolution

Earth Myths with a Sprinkling of Data

May 3, 2012

Some recent articles on dating methods show that tiny bits of data can be used to generate whoppers.

Amazing Facts

Animals Have Biological GPS

April 30, 2012

Global Positioning System (GPS): that's a function. Maintaining a suite of satellites is one method for achieving the function. But there are other ways to figure out where in the world you are, and two very different animals show the way – naturally – using Earth's global magnetic field.

Cell Biology

How the Tiger Got Its Stripes: Dunno

April 28, 2012

A leading hypothesis for morphogenesis (pattern formation, such as tiger stripes) has been shown to be oversimplified. Whatever gave a tiger its stripes is more complicated than developmental biologists thought.

Amazing Facts

From Wonders of Nature to Wonders of Technology

April 22, 2012

Living things have solved physics problems like design engineers. Inventors are just now catching on to their tricks in ways that could improve our technology, weaning us off our crude, polluting past and ushering in advanced technology that is not only greener but more effective. The latest stars are two insects and a bacterium.

Biology

Is This Plant Really 30,000 Years Old?

February 20, 2012

A plant said to be 30,000 years old has been brought to life in Russia. A team resurrected a fruit from a rodent burrow in Siberian permafrost, getting it to grow into a whole plant that produces viable seeds. This is now the oldest age claim, by an order of magnitude, for plant material made to live again. Other scientists are startled that plant material could remain viable for so long, since cells have to repair their DNA continually. Other botany news bring different problems to evolutionary theory.

Amazing Facts

Small Animals Show Even More Design

February 17, 2012

Your smart phone is a triumph of miniaturization. The first computers were room-filling monstrosities; now, you can hold more computing power than a Univac in the palm of your hand. In the living world, we should't despise small creatures. They can pack a lot of technology into a small space. Here are some record-setting examples of living miniatures reported recently.

Darwin and Evolution

OOL for Landlubbers

February 12, 2012

No part of the universal evolutionary scenario gets more overhauls than the origin of life. Some say it began in the sea, some on the land. Some say it began at the bottom of the sea; others say that is the worst place for life to get going. The latest idea favors freshwater hot springs on land.

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