83 results
- Life
This marine alga is the first known eukaryote to pull nitrogen from air
An alga’s bacterial symbiote has evolved into an organelle that turns atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia, making the alga unique among eukaryotes.
- Plants
Soil microbes that survived tough climates can help young trees do the same
Trees grown in soil with microbes that have survived drought and high or low temperatures have a better shot at survival when facing the same conditions.
- Microbes
Watch: Recent microbial discoveries are changing our view of life on Earth
Videos capture the strange movements and predatory styles of protists — among the closest microbial cousins to multicellular life.
- Microbes
These climate-friendly microbes recycle carbon without producing methane
A newly discovered group of single-celled archaea break down decaying plants without adding the greenhouse gas methane to the atmosphere.
- Paleontology
3.42-billion-year-old fossil threads may be the oldest known archaea microbes
The structure and chemistry of these ancient cell-like fossils may hint where Earth’s early inhabitants evolved and how they got their energy.
- Microbes
Archaea microbes fold, twist and contort their DNA in extreme ways
Single-celled archaea open and close their Slinky-like genetic material in a clamshell motion, possibly providing easy access to their genes.
- Planetary Science
A new look at the ‘mineral kingdom’ may transform how we search for life
A new census of Earth’s crystal past hints that life may have begun earlier than expected, and could be a tool to look for water and life elsewhere.
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Debate over Pluto’s planet status still carries on
Managing editor Erin Wayman discusses the challenges of classification in science, from Pluto's planet status to the definition of life.
- Life
Microbiologists took 12 years to grow a microbe tied to complex life’s origins
Years of lab work resulted in growing a type of archaea that might help scientists understand one of evolution’s giant leaps toward complexity.
- Genetics
Gene-editing tool CRISPR wins the chemistry Nobel
A gene-editing tool developed just eight years ago that has “revolutionized the life sciences” nabbed the 2020 Nobel Prize in chemistry.
- Neuroscience
Boosting a gut bacterium helps mice fight an ALS-like disease
Gut bacteria may alter ALS symptoms for good or ill.
- Life
A mash-up of yeast and E. coli shows how mitochondria might have evolved
An engineered partnership between yeast and E. coli suggests one way mitochondria may have evolved.
