Wash your mouth out with soap! Literally? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Uh oh… food poisoning! Your immune system protects you — but it can’t guard everywhere at once. What’s an upset stomach to do in the meantime? Enter Ryan Gaudet and colleagues at
Continue readingTag: microbiology
Golden Ticket
There’s gold in them there … bacteria? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. When gold and copper are surrounded by certain other chemicals, they’re toxic to the environment. This can hurt the soil, and, in turn, the plants and animals living there. But Nature has
Continue readingGolden Ticket
There’s gold in them there … bacteria? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. When gold and copper are surrounded by certain other chemicals, they’re toxic to the environment. This can hurt the soil, and, in turn, the plants and animals living there. But Nature has
Continue readingNibbling Cancer Away
Imagine a meal even Ms. Pacman can’t swallow whole! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Macrophages are large immune cells with an even LARGER appetite – they’re known for swallowing bacteria whole! Ramraj Velmurugan from Texas A&M University and colleagues wondered – just how big
Continue readingLather Up
Wash your mouth out with soap! Literally? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Uh oh… food poisoning! Your immune system protects you — but it can’t guard everywhere at once. What’s an upset stomach to do in the meantime? Enter Ryan Gaudet and colleagues at
Continue readingGolden Ticket
There’s gold in them there … bacteria? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. When gold and copper are surrounded by certain other chemicals, they’re toxic to the environment. This can hurt the soil, and, in turn, the plants and animals living there. But Nature has
Continue readingNight and Day
What winds YOUR internal clock? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Roosters crow at dawn. Toddlers wake up at 4 am every day. Plants know when to turn light into energy. But… What about BACTERIA? Zheng Eelderink-Chen at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and
Continue readingLet Them Eat Air
Can we make food out of thin air? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Soil is full of microbes. These tiny organisms eat and break down other organisms. They also recycle nutrients. But in desolate places on earth, or even in space, what is there
Continue readingApple Picking
Don’t….Don’t bite the apple! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. When we eat an apple, we’re also consuming about a HUNDRED MILLION bacteria! Should we be concerned? After all, not all bacteria are evil! To learn more, Gabriele Berg
Continue readingExtreme Armor
Would you wear a sugar-coated bathing suit in a hot tub? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Most living things wouldn’t survive a dip into a volcanic hot spring. The water is nearly boiling and super acidic! But somehow, single-celled creatures called Sulfolobus islandicus thrive
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