by Elio — Definitions in biology tend to be elusive because they are often peppered with exceptions. Right now, defining prokaryotes (Bacteria and Archaea, cells without a real nucleus) as being different from eukaryotes (cells with a nucleus) is the subject of a lively discussion. One writer of a piece in Nature does not believe...
by Elio — In a recent Friday New York Times puzzle, the definition for 20 Across was: "Legionella and Listeria" — 7 letters. Hint: the first two letters are "ae." The answer is...
by Elio — In Spanish or Italian,"colmo" means that something has truly reached the limit, the last straw. For endosymbionts, this can be claimed by bacteria that live not just inside host cells, but within their mitochondria. El colmo! This unusual...
by Elio — At the year's end, the media have been paying special attention to microbes. Newspapers, radio, and TV have found microbial stories worthy of their attention. Practically everyone who listens to or reads any sort of media must know by now...
Stan Maloy asks: Both of the scenarios proposed by David Lipson in answer to TQ #4 make perfect sense, but they only focus on bacteria external to plants and animals (as prompted in the question). However, you could also ask what...
What if all the bacteria and archaea on Earth decided to go on strike and stop their metabolism all at once? Which of the global cycles of matter would be affected first?
