Small Things Considered

Talmudic Question #177

A twist on Schrödinger’s Cat… In­stead of ra­dio­iso­tope, a Gei­ger coun­ter, a poi­son and a cat, in­side a sealed box with a light and kept at am­bient tem­pe­ra­ture and at­mo­sphe­ric pres­sure, you place a Wi­no­grad­sky co­lumn and a sealed vial... Read more →

Talmudic Question #176

Currently, when a bacterial or archaeal genus or species has been well characterized but is yet-uncultured, it is given 'Candidatus' status. Should this practice be continued or is time to abolish it? Why? Read more →

Talmudic Question #175

by Morgan Feeney
Are there any bacterial species that simply never form biofilms/are genetically incapable of doing so? Read more →

Talmudic Question #174

Imagine that the great majority of the microbes on Earth could be cultivated on laboratory media. How do you suggest that, in practice, we handle their humongous number? Read more →

Talmudic Question #173

Can you envisage a Winogradsky column consisting of only Gram-negative bacteria (or just Gram-positives, for that matter)? Read more →

Talmudic Question #172

Can you think of a vertebrate other than ruminants that CANNOT be reared under germ-free conditions? Read more →

Talmudic Question #171

by Ellie Arrington
Why are Gammaproteobacteria the weeds of microbial communities? Read more →

Talmudic Question #170

Why is RNA replication limited to the viruses and viroids? Read more →

Talmudic Question #169

Lactose is rarely found in Nature except for mammalian milk. How come? Read more →

Talmudic Question #168

Are there classes of genes that cannot be productively transmitted by phages (that is, cannot be transduced)?
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