by Christoph — If someone told you that your mouth harbors roughly 700 different bacterial species you might think "that's gross!" but you'd probably just say "Ooh!". Wait! Please, keep your mouth open for a minute and look into a mirror. Consider the size of bacteria, so for them your mouth is a big garden. And now... Read more →
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Name-That-Bug Quiz
by Elio — Taxonomy is not what most of us take up as a field of study but we run into it all the time. Assuming that you have learned something about microbial taxonomy, perhaps by osmosis, would you like to test your knowledge? Read more →
Life in the Clouds
by Roberto — Elio started his "Ice-cold Pinnacles and Extreme Science" post of a couple of weeks ago – where he described unusual microbial structures in the bottom Lake Vanda in Antarctica – with these observations: "We may be runnin out of strange places to explore life on Earth, which is a shame because they often provide us with unexpected and exciting findings, especially microbial." Read more →
Ode to Evolution 2016
by Irwin Rubenstein — You speak and reflect life's unity and variety and human misery and intelligence. You make the ends to be justified by horrific means... Read more →
Squids and Luminous Bacteria. A Tale of Twists and Turns
by Elio — Bacteria are masters at making multiple uses of their components. Thus, their constituents can serve a variety of dissimilar functions. An example is the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of the Gram negative cell outer membrane. This uniquely bacterial constituent is important stabilizing the structure of the membrane. In addition,... Read more →
Talmudic Question #139
Why have microbiologists ever more problems defining bacterial species the better they get to know them? Read more →
Ice-cold Pinnacles and Extreme Science
by Elio — We may be running out of strange places to explore life on Earth, which is a shame because they often provide us with unexpected and exciting findings, especially microbial. Many such sites reveal a novel facet of microbial life, well worth the cost of the adventures... Read more →
TWiM 138: Learning to love uranium and the A-baum
The TWiM team brings you a bacterium from a Colorado field site that grows on uranium, and copper resistance in the emerging pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii. Read more →
Fred Neidhardt as a Boss
by Ruth A. VanBogelen — We recently lost a giant in the field of Microbiology. Frederick C. Neidhardt, Ph.D. passed away at the age of 85 on October 7, 2016. A study of his CV would easily demonstrate the significance of his contribution to scientific research, scientific education and to the policies and politics of science. Read more →