Microbes

  1. Life

    ‘Polyester bees’ brew beer-scented baby food in plastic cribs

    Ptiloglossa bees’ baby food gets its boozy fragrance from fermentation by mysteriously selected microbes.

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  2. Life

    Coral reefs host millions of bacteria, revealing Earth’s hidden biodiversity

    A new estimate of microbial life living in Pacific reefs is similar to global counts, suggesting many more microbes call Earth home than thought.

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  3. Plants

    A hunt for fungi might bring this orchid back from the brink

    Identifying the fungi that feeds the Cooper’s black orchid in the lab may allow researchers to bank seeds and possibly regrow the species in the wild.

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  4. 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.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    The FDA has approved the first-ever vaccine for RSV

    GSK’s shot, for those 60 and over, can protect against severe respiratory syncytial virus. Other vaccines, including to protect newborns, are in the works.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Here’s what we know about upcoming vaccines and antibodies against RSV

    New vaccines and monoclonal antibodies may be available this year to fend off severe disease caused by respiratory syncytial virus.

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  7. Animals

    Urchins are dying off across the Caribbean. Scientists now know why

    A type of single-celled microorganism associated with coral diseases is behind a sea urchin die-off in the Caribbean.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    U.S. cases of a deadly fungus nearly doubled in recent years

    Though numbers are still small, clinical cases of Candida auris in the jumped 95 percent from 2020 to 2021, a CDC survey finds.

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  9. Life

    Chemical signals from fungi tell bark beetles which trees to infest

    As fungi break down defensive chemicals in trees, some byproducts act as signals to bark beetle pests, telling them which trees are most vulnerable.

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  10. Life

    Fungi don’t turn humans into zombies. But The Last of Us gets some science right

    Fungi like those in the post-apocalyptic TV show are real. But humans’ body temperature and brain chemistry may protect us from zombifying fungi.

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  11. Microbes

    Some ‘friendly’ bacteria backstab their algal pals. Now we know why

    The friendly relationship between Emiliana huxleyi and Roseobacter turns deadly when the bacteria get a whiff of the algae’s aging-related chemicals.

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  12. Microbes

    Scientists have found the first known microbes that can eat only viruses

    Lab experiments show that Halteria ciliates can chow down solely on viruses. Whether these “virovores” do the same in the wild is unclear.

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