• The Three Faces of Thiomar­garita

    by Merry Youle — Ahhh, the de­li­cious aroma of hy­dro­gen sul­fide. When as kids we en­coun­tered it, we would hold our nose and pro­claim "yuck, rot­ten eggs!" It is in­deed pro­duced by some­thing 'rot­ting,' but specif­i­cally rot­ting un­der anaer­o­bic con­di­tions, such as in swamps and sew­ers. It is also abun­dant in coastal ma­rine sed­i­ments, pro­duced by the oxy­gen-con­sum­ing…

  • A Worm­ful of Bugs

    by Elio — Let's start out with a lit­tle quiz. What ex­am­ples can you name of en­dosym­bi­otic bac­te­ria so tightly packed that they're nearly wall-to-wall within cells of their host? If you said legume root nod­ules, you can claim a prize. (Ask some­one else for it, as we don't have any.) You would get…