The Latest Breaking News from Bacteria

Your daily coffee may be doing more than keeping you awake — scientists found a surprising link between your gut, brain and coffee habit

A recent study examined how coffee consumption affects mood and gut health in regular drinkers. Researchers found that both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee influenced psychological measures and gut bacteria. Although changes were noted, the study did not conclusively prove coffee's benefits for mental health. The influence of gut bacteria on…

The Economic Times · Sep 28

Alaska woman cuts open a fresh slice of red velvet cake and finds a dangerous surprise inside: ‘It’s not hair in your cake’

The cake came with strings attached

We Got This Covered · Sep 28

Hibernating bacteria can invade hospitals and survive outer space – but their high energy bill is a weakness that scientists can strike

A spore is a bacterium’s survival capsule: dried almost solid, wrapped in protein armor and chemical processes shut down. Bacteria enter this state of hibernation when environmental conditions are unfavorable. What’s left is close to indestructible: It can survive boiling, desiccation, radiation and the vacuum of space. NASA once bolted…

The Conversation · Sep 28

Fibre: The Nutrient Missing From the Indian Protein-Obsessed Diet

Your breakfast has protein. Your coffee has protein. Your snack has protein. Your Instagram feed probably has protein too. Somewhere between protein coffees, protein bars and “high-protein” everything, one nutrient has quietly been pushed out of the spotlight: fibre. And now, India’s nutrition conversation is beginning to look beyond the…

MyLifeXP · Sep 27

What is killing whale calves in Patagonia? bacteria under suspicion

Dozens of southern right whale calves have been found dead on Argentina's Patagonian coast. Scientists are probing a possible bacterial infection after an unusually deadly season.

Euronews · Sep 25

Could bacteria hold the secret to delaying death? Magnetic microbes extended worm lifespan by more than 43% in a new ageing study

Researchers at Hefei Institutes of Physical Science found that Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1 increased the lifespan of C. elegans by 43.39%. The treated worms demonstrated improved neurological function and intestinal health as they aged. The study linked these benefits to reduced ferroptosis and iron accumulation, highlighting the role of magnetosomes. Comparisons…

The Economic Times · Sep 25

Has AI arrived as a scientific discoverer? Claude’s new CRISPR-like discovery uncovers a hidden enzyme system that scientists had missed in bacterial DNA

Anthropic says Claude has helped researchers find a previously unknown enzyme system in bacterial DNA. They call it ARTs, or array-associated reverse transcriptases. The system has a reverse transcriptase and repeated DNA sequences that resemble CRISPR. Scientists are now studying what it actually does.

The Economic Times · Sep 24

An AI model has found a new ‘CRISPR-like’ biological system. Here’s what it means for science

Anthropic announced today that its Claude artificial intelligence (AI) system identified a previously unknown biological system in the DNA of viruses that infect bacteria.

The Conversation · Sep 24

Why Clay Idols Dissolve at Different Rates: The Sediment and Oxygen Evidence From Immersion Sites

Clay is not one materialThe word "clay" covers a family of minerals with very different structures. Idol makers across India work primarily with two: natural river clay, which is largely kaolinite, and processed clay bodies that contain montmorillonite (the dominant mineral in what potters call "black cotton soil"). Kaolinite has…

Times Life · Sep 24

Why Immersion Water Causes Skin and Eye Infections, and Who Faces the Highest Risk

What Is Actually in That WaterA well-maintained swimming pool still carries microbial load. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tested public pools across multiple states and found that 58% of filter samples tested positive for E. coli, a marker of fecal contamination, even in facilities that met…

Times Life · Sep 24