Hacker News with Generative AI: Microbiology

How a Biofilm’s Strange Shape Emerges From Cellular Geometry (quantamagazine.org)
Biofilms lead lives of liminality. Just a few cells thick, these layered communities of microbes anchor themselves to solid surfaces at interfaces — where rocks meet salt water in tide pools, between plants and dirt in root systems, or on the saliva-covered surface of your teeth. Amalgamations of single cells, biofilms grow and develop into unified life forms that can split back into their component cells under duress. Biofilms, then, are somehow both unicellular and multicellular — and simultaneously neither.
Biology, Microbiology, Science, Cellular Biology
17 points by pseudolus 4 days ago | 1 comments
Scientists discover new microbes in Earth's deep soil (phys.org)
Scientists have discovered a new phylum of microbes in Earth's Critical Zone, an area of deep soil that restores water quality.
Science, Biology, Earth Science, Microbiology
6 points by gmays 7 days ago | 0 comments
The Animals That Exist Between Life and Death (nautil.us)
At the dawn of microbiology, scientists glimpsed unseen worlds and stumbled into a philosophical purgatory
Microbiology, Philosophy, Science, Life
87 points by dnetesn 9 days ago | 49 comments
Molecular clock: bacteria used oxygen long before widespread photosynthesis (phys.org)
Molecular clock analysis shows bacteria used oxygen long before widespread photosynthesis
Biology, Evolution, Science, Microbiology
13 points by PaulHoule 10 days ago | 3 comments
Unique bacteria that survive by employing multicellular behavior (phys.org)
In a recent study, researchers gained new insight into the lives of bacteria that survive by grouping together as if they were a multicellular organism.
Biology, Microbiology, Bacteria, Science
36 points by PaulHoule 10 days ago | 11 comments
Some gut bacteria could make certain drugs less effective, study indicates (phys.org)
A study published in Nature Chemistry by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Yale University shows how common gut bacteria can metabolize certain oral medications that target cellular receptors called GPCRs, potentially rendering these important drugs less effective.
Medicine, Pharmacology, Microbiology, Health
9 points by pseudolus 23 days ago | 1 comments
Microbes can capture carbon and degrade plastic – why aren't we using them more? (nature.com)
Microorganisms have shaped Earth for almost four billion years.
Microbiology, Environmental Science, Sustainability, Bioremediation, Pollution
8 points by GavCo 32 days ago | 2 comments
Desert rocks suggest unknown microorganism uses marble and limestone as a home (phys.org)
In the desert areas of Namibia, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, research work has revealed unusual structures that are probably due to the activity of an unknown microbiological life form.
Microbiology, Geology, Desert Environments, Science
6 points by wglb 33 days ago | 1 comments
Unknown microorganisms used marble and limestone as a habitat (sciencedaily.com)
In the desert areas of Namibia, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, research work has revealed unusual structures that are probably due to the activity of an unknown microbiological life form.
Microbiology, Geology, Desert Environments, Scientific Discovery
17 points by docmechanic 36 days ago | 1 comments
Microplastics boost antibiotic resistance in E. coli, lab study suggests (thenewlede.org)
Co-mingling of tiny pieces of plastic with certain harmful bacteria can make the bacteria harder to fight with several common antibiotics, according to a new study that adds to global concerns about antibiotic resistance.
Science, Antibiotic Resistance, Environmental Science, Microbiology
7 points by PaulHoule 37 days ago | 0 comments
Carbon recyclers: Sulfur bacteria break down organic substances in seabed (phys.org)
Sulfate-reducing bacteria break down a large proportion of the organic carbon in the oxygen-free zones of Earth, and in the seabed in particular.
Science, Biology, Environment, Microbiology
22 points by wglb 48 days ago | 6 comments
Chimeric particles expand species boundaries in chromosomal island mobilization (biorxiv.org)
Some mobile genetic elements spread among unrelated bacterial species through unknown mechanisms.
Genetics, Microbiology, Evolution, Biology, Research
4 points by lawrenceyan 56 days ago | 0 comments
Our Search for Life in the Clouds (smithsonianmag.com)
By collecting samples after climbing a high peak and firing rockets with special traps into the upper atmosphere, scientists have found microbes living in thin air
Microbiology, Science, Atmosphere, Research
20 points by ulrischa 59 days ago | 3 comments
AI cracks superbug problem in two days that took scientists years (bbc.co.uk)
A complex problem that took microbiologists a decade to get to the bottom of has been solved in just two days by a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool.
Artificial Intelligence, Microbiology, Medical Research, Science
250 points by monkeydust 65 days ago | 108 comments
If it moves, it's probably alive: Searching for life on other planets (arstechnica.com)
The search for extraterrestrial life has always been a key motivator of space exploration. But if we were to search Mars, Titan, or the subsurface oceans of Europa or Enceladus, it seems like all we can reasonably hope to find is extremophile microbes. And microbes, just a few microns long and wide, will be difficult to identify if we’re relying on robots working with limited human supervision and without all the fancy life-detecting gear we have here on Earth.
Space Exploration, Extraterrestrial Life, Microbiology, Robots
4 points by rbanffy 72 days ago | 0 comments
Gut microbiota functions:metabolism of nutrients and other food components(2017) (nlm.nih.gov)
The diverse microbial community that inhabits the human gut has an extensive metabolic repertoire that is distinct from, but complements the activity of mammalian enzymes in the liver and gut mucosa and includes functions essential for host digestion.
Microbiology, Human Health, Nutrition, Metabolism
6 points by BiraIgnacio 72 days ago | 1 comments
'Obelisks', a new class of life living inside humans (bgr.com)
Researchers just discovered an entirely new class of life living inside humans
Biology, Microbiology, Human Biology, Science, Research
109 points by Ziggy_Zaggy 83 days ago | 25 comments
The ocean teems with networks of interconnected bacteria (quantamagazine.org)
Tiny bridges, known as bacterial nanotubes, connect the inner spaces of photosynthesizing bacteria throughout the oceans — forming little-known cellular networks of trade and communication.
Science, Biology, Marine Biology, Microbiology
142 points by abe94 89 days ago | 19 comments
The Ocean Teems with Networks of Interconnected Bacteria (quantamagazine.org)
Tiny bridges, known as bacterial nanotubes, connect the inner spaces of photosynthesizing bacteria throughout the oceans — forming little-known cellular networks of trade and communication.
Science, Biology, Microbiology, Oceanography
3 points by rbanffy 109 days ago | 0 comments
The Ocean Teems with Networks of Interconnected Bacteria (quantamagazine.org)
Tiny bridges, known as bacterial nanotubes, connect the inner spaces of photosynthesizing bacteria throughout the oceans — forming little-known cellular networks of trade and communication.
Biology, Science, Microbiology, Bacteria
17 points by isaacfrond 110 days ago | 1 comments
Scientists Re-Create the Microbial Dance That Sparked Complex Life (quantamagazine.org)
Evolution was fueled by endosymbiosis, cellular alliances in which one microbe makes a permanent home inside another. For the first time, biologists made it happen in the lab.
Science, Biology, Evolution, Microbiology
25 points by isaacfrond 113 days ago | 1 comments
'Obelisks': New class of life has been found in human digestive system (sciencealert.com)
Peering into the jungle of microbes that live within us, researchers have stumbled across what seem to be an entire new class of virus-like objects.
Microbiology, Biology, Human Body, Viruses
476 points by unkeen 117 days ago | 134 comments
Viroid-like colonists of human microbiomes (biorxiv.org)
Here, we describe the “Obelisks,” a previously unrecognised class of viroid-like elements that we first identified in human gut metatranscriptomic data.
Microbiology, Genomics, Human Microbiome, Biology, Science
5 points by seslaire 123 days ago | 0 comments
'Obelisks': New Class of Life Has Been Found in the Human Digestive Sys (sciencealert.com)
Peering into the jungle of microbes that live within us, researchers have stumbled across what seem to be an entire new class of virus-like objects.
Biology, Microbiology, Viruses, Human Body, Science
10 points by SMAAART 123 days ago | 1 comments
Technical Report on Mirror Bacteria: Feasibility and Risks (purl.stanford.edu)
This report describes the technical feasibility of creating mirror bacteria and the potentially serious and wide-ranging risks that they could pose to humans, other animals, plants, and the environment.
Biotechnology, Microbiology, Risk Assessment, Environmental Science
20 points by Hooke 131 days ago | 1 comments
The brain microbiome: could understanding it help prevent dementia? (theguardian.com)
Long thought to be sterile, our brains are now believed to harbour all sorts of micro-organisms, from bacteria to fungi. How big a part do they play in Alzheimer’s and similar diseases?
Microbiology, Neuroscience, Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease
7 points by pseudolus 142 days ago | 0 comments
Bacterial World (ox.ac.uk)
Bacteria survive, thrive, fight and die by the trillion every moment. They swim using nanoscopic motors, and battle with spears. They sense, communicate, remember. And as scientists discover more about these tiny organisms, it is becoming clear that bacteria wield huge influence over us, shaping Earth’s past, our present and the future for us all. We have only recently realised how much our lives are inextricably linked with the lives of bacteria. We really are living in a bacterial world.
Microbiology, Science, Biology, Earth Science
22 points by tobr 142 days ago | 6 comments
Fish have a brain microbiome – could humans have one too? (quantamagazine.org)
The discovery that other vertebrates have healthy, microbial brains is fueling the still controversial possibility that we might have them as well.
Microbiology, Neuroscience, Vertebrates, Human Health
334 points by rbanffy 144 days ago | 130 comments
Ryugu asteroid sample rapidly colonized by terrestrial life (phys.org)
Researchers from Imperial College London have discovered that a space-returned sample from asteroid Ryugu was rapidly colonized by terrestrial microorganisms, even under stringent contamination control measures.
Space Exploration, Science, Microbiology, Asteroids
33 points by Tomte 150 days ago | 5 comments
Clinical microbiologist explains why you should never kiss a baby (medicalxpress.com)
There is a cognitive bias called "the curse of knowledge" (sometimes also called "the curse of expertise"). It happens when you incorrectly assume that everyone knows as much as you do on a given topic. As a clinical microbiologist, I assumed everyone knew that it was a terrible idea to kiss a newborn baby anywhere on its head.
Health, Parenting, Microbiology
26 points by bikenaga 153 days ago | 9 comments