Hacker News with Generative AI: Microbiology

New Bacteria Have Been Discovered on a Chinese Space Station (wired.com)
It is microscopic and rod-shaped, can create spores, and may have evolved to survive hundreds of miles above our planet's surface. This bacterium, never before seen on Earth, was detected on China's Tiangong space station.

Space Exploration, Microbiology, China, Science

14 points by zzzeek 13 days ago | 0 comments

Mouth bacteria partially spread depression and anxiety in newlywed couples (xiahepublishing.com)
Oral microbiota transmission between individuals in close contact partially mediates symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Mental Health, Microbiology, Relationships, Science

53 points by nreece 13 days ago | 22 comments

Unknown strain of bacteria found on China's Tiangong Space Station (livescience.com)

Space Exploration, Microbiology, China

11 points by geox 17 days ago | 1 comments

Genetic-engineered bacteria break down industrial contaminants (arstechnica.com)
Over the last century or more, humanity has been developing an ever-growing number of new chemicals that have never been seen before by Earth's creatures.

Biotechnology, Environmental Science, Microbiology, Chemistry

5 points by PaulHoule 21 days ago | 0 comments

Microbes in Gowanus teach lessons on fighting industrial pollution (engineering.nyu.edu)
Using advanced DNA sequence analysis, a research team led by NYU Tandon School of Engineering's Assistant Professor Elizabeth Hénaff has discovered that tiny organisms in Brooklyn's highly contaminated Gowanus Canal have developed a comprehensive collection of pollution-fighting genes.

Environmental Science, Microbiology, Pollution, New York

25 points by eatonphil 22 days ago | 6 comments

Hunting extreme microbes that redefine the limits of life (nature.com)
An adventurous survey of inhospitable habitats unearths extraordinary organisms that pose challenging research questions.

Microbiology, Science, Biology, Life, Research

33 points by gnabgib 24 days ago | 2 comments

Microbe that infests hospitals can digest medical-grade plastic ― a first (nature.com)

Microbiology, Medicine, Environmental Science, Plastic Pollution

26 points by rbanffy 26 days ago | 13 comments

Microbe that infests hospitals can digest medical-grade plastic ― a first (nature.com)
A strain of bacterium that often causes infections in hospital can break down plastic, research published this week in Cell Reports reveals1.

Science, Medicine, Microbiology, Plastic Pollution

13 points by sharjeelsayed 30 days ago | 0 comments

Mass spectrometry method identifies pathogens within minutes instead of days (phys.org)
Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Imperial College London have developed a new method to identify bacteria with unprecedented speed.

Science, Microbiology, Technology, Health

136 points by pseudolus 32 days ago | 45 comments

New species of methane-producing archaea discovered in the human gut (phys.org)
An international team of microbiologists from the Medical University of Graz, the DSMZ—German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures (Braunschweig, Germany)—and the University of Illinois (U.S.) has identified and described a previously unknown species of methane-producing archaea in the human gut: Methanobrevibacter intestini sp. nov. (strain WWM1085).

Microbiology, Human Gut, Archaea, Methane

68 points by PaulHoule 38 days ago | 28 comments

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 47 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 50 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 52 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 52 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 53 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 65 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 74 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 75 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 78 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 79 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 91 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 98 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 102 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 107 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 114 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 115 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 126 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 131 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 151 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 152 days ago | 1 comments