Medicine & TechnologyRecent reports of Mars methane detections have fascinated both scientists and non-scientists alike. On Earth, a substantial amount of methane is generated by bacteria that help most livestock digest plants.
Microbes in the seafloor of the Guaymas Basin have adapted to the high temperatures that bake and burn large areas of seafloor sediments and turn organic matter into methane and energy-rich compounds.
Researchers found that oceanic microbes dwelling in carbonate chimney rocks consume methane 50 times faster than those that live in sediment, effectively regulating the Earth's temperature.
Researchers have recently studied a new bacterium known as Subdoligranulum that's nearly absent in obese and diabetic people, while found in healthy individuals.
Scientists have bioengineered bacteria that would convert waste into high-value chemicals, such as itaconic acid for the polymer industry and wastewater treatment.
Scientists recently found bacteria in sinks are the result of handwashing. Specifically, they discovered that this practice, that has shaped communities of microbes that stay and grow in domestic sinks' plumbing.
A new study from NASA and scientists at the German Aerospace Center discovered that some bacteria on Earth could temporarily survive on the Martian surface.
The tree of life is often traced back to the Last Universal Common Ancestor, where all complex life forms share a single origin. Microbes found in the Black Sea may explain a period where bacteria, eukaryotes, and archaea had a similar cell structure, particularly the lipid membrane.