Small Things Considered

Winter Vacation

by the STC team
We take advantage of this being the season for re­joic­ing, and take our customary two week winter va­ca­tion. We return in 2021, on January 4th... Read more →

Retrospective, June to December 2020

by Elio
Here is a list of our posts from the last half year − which felt significantly longer than usual, right? − briefly annotated... Read more →

Meselson & Stahl, the Conversation

by Roberto | A few days ago, Christoph sent the rest of us at STC a most uplifting message. A conversation between Matt Meselson and Frank Stahl, describing their "most beautiful experiment," had just premiered in iBiology.org. Read more →

A Short History of Yogurt

by Roberto | Rumor has it that the combina­tion of yogurt and honey is the "food of the gods." I can't vouch for that since I have not had the chance to query the gods about their diets. Yet just the other day, while en­joying ar­ti­sanal Greek-style yogurt top­ped with local raw honey, I closed my eyes and was imme­dia­tely trans­ported... Read more →

An Enlightening Evening to Remember

by David Westenberg | Each summer, the Microbial Diversity course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA is the place for exploring the incredible beauty and diversity of the microbial world. Read more →

Putting Life on Earth in Perspective

by Roberto | Last week I was very fortunate. I had the opportunity to focus my attention on putting life on Earth in perspective. It was a welcome respite considering these trying times. Almost one year ago, thanks to Nassos Typas, I received an invitation to speak on microbial diversity at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg... Read more →

Elio's Memoirs

by Roberto
This sepia toned photograph was taken on January 6, 1950. That's Elio in the light toned overcoat, looking over his right shoulder and standing on the first step of the ladder and about to enter a Panagra DC-3. Read more →

Teachers Corner: Where have all the protons gone?

by Roberto | Learning is complicated. To anyone involved in teaching, it is apparent that students learn in diverse and often mysterious ways. It has even been said that one never really learns something until one has to teach it! Read more →

Of Terms in Biology: Dysbiosis

by Elio | Dysbiosis is a fairly old term but one that seems to have gained con­si­der­able cur­ren­cy lately. Its ori­gin is from the Greek dys (bad, difficult) + biōsis (mode of life, from: bios life).  It is used to de­note an im­bal­ance in some­one's mi­cro­biome, human, animal, or plant. Read more →

Remembering a Remarkable Man

by Roberto | Outdoors the air was crisp, as it should be for a late Oc­to­ber even­ing in Maine. In­doors, with lit logs crack­ling in the fire­place, the twelve of us sat fully ab­sorbed in the nar­ra­tive spok­en by our spe­cial guest. The soft tone of his voice, the sparkle in his eyes, and his joy­ful smile framed the story­telling per­fect­ly. That even­ing, this gentle man... Read more →