Microbes
-
Science & Society
White House unveils strategy against antibiotic resistance
The Obama Administration has launched a long-term plan to curb antibiotic resistance, unveiling incentives and requirements designed to boost surveillance and diagnosis of resistant microbes.
By Nathan Seppa -
Animals
Wasps may turn ladybugs into zombies with viral weapons
Parasitic wasps may use a neurological virus to make ladybugs their minions, a study posits.
-
Health & Medicine
New antibiotic candidate shows promise
Tests in lab dishes and mice suggest an experimental compound called teixobactin can kill staph, TB microbes and other bacteria.
By Nathan Seppa -
Ecosystems
Cities are brimming with wildlife worth studying
Urban ecologists are getting a handle on the varieties of wildlife — including fungi, ants, bats and coyotes — that share sidewalks, parks and alleyways with a city’s human residents.
-
Microbes
The year in microbiomes
This year, scientists pegged microbes as important players in several aspects of human health, including obesity and cancer.
By Meghan Rosen -
Microbes
Year in review: Science faces Ebola epidemic
West Africa’s 2014 Ebola epidemic showed what can happen when a contagious virus emerges where cultural practices, public fears and porous borders fuel the spread of disease.
By Nathan Seppa -
Microbes
Microbes floating among clouds may munch on sugar
Floating in a cloud and noshing sweets while wrapped in a cozy bubble sounds like a pleasant dream. For some lucky bacteria, it may be a reality.
By Beth Mole -
Animals
Vulture guts are filled with noxious bacteria
Vultures’ guts are chock-full of bacteria that sicken other creatures.
-
Environment
Colorado deluge produced flood of drug-resistance genes
Flooding in Colorado’s South Platte River Basin washed antibiotics and drug-resistance genes into pristine waterways.
By Beth Mole -
Archaeology
Feedback
Readers ask questions about a study on sweeteners, how scientists recognize primitive tools and the purpose of a dinosaur's sail.
-
Animals
Ten real-life Halloween horrors in the natural world
Vampires and witches are nothing compared to mind-controlling parasites, nose ticks and antibiotic-resistant superbugs.