Tiny exoskeleton fragments may have allowed some of the most important microbes in the planet’s history to set sail out into the open ocean and change the world forever.

Two billion years ago, an igneous rock in northern South Africa formed. Not long after, some bacteria crawled into cracks in that rock, and got trapped inside when the cracks got plugged up by a bunch of clay. But that bacterial colony...

You've probably heard that urine is sterile. And we're only just learning that's not true. Understanding the urinary microbiome could help us find new ways to treat kidney stones, UTIs, and even bladder cancer.



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Epidote might just look like a pretty little crystal, but it has a secret. thanks to the high-pressure circumstances where it forms, we can use it to help us uncover the origins of life on our planet, and maybe even find signs of life on...

Is it possible that life on earth began with an out of this world rock buffet?

Bacteria is enormously resourceful and will find a way to grow just about anywhere it can, and that includes space stations. Here's a compilation of how that's happened in the past and how we've handled it!<br/>

No one likes being sick, but can you imagine catching a bug while hurling through space? Turns out, this is an issue that many space agencies have worked to study and mitigate. <b<br/>r/>

If you rank the most habitable places in our solar system Venus lands pretty low, with surface temperatures hot enough to melt lead and sulphuric acid rain. And yet it may have just jumped to the front of the pack. In fact, we may have...

The hardened residue scraped off your teeth at the dentist is called your dental calculus, and your dental calculus is the only part of your body that actually fossilizes while you’re alive! And scientists have figured out how to study &...

Thanks to a recent adaptation, instead of getting sick from the boozy, fermented fruits, one of our primate ancestors could digest them safely, and get more calories at the same time. This new superpower would open up a whole new...

In the middle of the Cambrian, life on land was about to get a little more crowded. And those newcomers would end up changing the world. The arrival of plants on land would make the world colder, drain much of the oxygen out of the...

The unexpected discovery of an entirely new domain of life was pretty huge and surprising - even if archaea do just look like bacteria. But, in recent years, it’s been their connection to us that's turned out to be particularly full of...

Antibiotic Resistance and the Rise of Superbugs

It sounds like such an incredible fact. “Our own cells are outnumbered by our microbes 10 to 1!” I don’t remember where I first heard it. But I read it in science papers and articles by journalists, so I believed it without question. I...

There’s one rule on Space Time: It’s never Aliens. But every rule has an exception and this rule is no exception because: It’s never aliens, until it is. So is it aliens yet? And on today’s Space Time we’re going to examine all the best...

You've probably heard of CRISPR, the revolutionary technology that allows us to edit the DNA in living organisms. Biochemist and 2023 Audacious Project grantee Jennifer Doudna earned the Nobel Prize for her groundbreaking work in this...

Growing food in space will be necessary to support the future of space exploration. And it won't be monoculture, either. Here's why astronauts will be growing whole ecosystems in space.

Bacteria are everywhere, including clouds, and the rain that falls from them. Not only can they survive the harsh environment and hitchhike across continents, they can share their genes, too. Including the ones that make them resistant...

Solving food shortages caused by droughts is a big challenge that may benefit from a tiny ally. Turns out that the microbes living in the soil around plants can give them a boost when water's scarce, which means more food for us, which...

Researchers have found ancient communities of microbes that have been buried deep, for a hundred million years! This discovery might be the oldest living thing on Earth, and could even expand the search for life on other planets.

Hoboro Island off the coast of Japan may soon be an island of the past, and it’s primarily due to one unsuspecting isopod.

Plants are finding their ways into caves, and it's all our fault.

When you think about the impact of climate change on the circle of life, you likely picture polar bears or Bengal tigers struggling in new conditions. But the impacts on the world go all the way down to the tiniest creatures who do some...

We’re all excited about the Mars rover Perseverance this week, but scientists are also working on some other exciting things!