Science

This Bikini-Shaped Bacteria Produces Some Of The World’s Strongest Glue

Remember the old Crazy Glue commercial where the guy suspended himself from his hard hat with just a dab of the adhesive? If he had been using the sugary compounds this bacteria naturally produces, he could have suspended a dump truck with the same amount.


February 8, 2012
Science

Playing In The Sand Could Make You Pay On The Toilet

Some people go to the beach but eschew going into the water because it’s “gross”. If that’s you, then you are a sucker. According to a new EPA study, playing in the sand more than doubles your chances of getting sick.


February 7, 2012
Science

Bacteria-Killing Plasma Torches Could Make Raw Food Safer

When it comes to kitchen safety, raw chicken can be even more dangerous than a sharp knife because of bacteria like salmonella. But a new study reveals that cold plasma torches could eliminate those harmful pathogens, without cooking the food.


January 30, 2012
Science

NDM-1: The Bacterial Gene That’s Resistant To 15 Different Antibiotics

Standing as the most densely populated city in the world, New Delhi has plenty of public health issues to deal with on a constant basis. But now health officials have some very urgent matters to deal with: new strains of super-bacteria, the most destructive of which contain the gene dubbed NDM-1 and are resistant to 15 widely used antibiotics.


January 5, 2012
Science

Is Bacteria The Answer To Life?

In some far off world, maybe there is such thing as tiny little microbe geniuses that’ve figured out the secrets of life before their bigger, more top o’ the food chain human-like counterparts. Maybe those microbes know we exist! Maybe they know if an orange red crayon is more orange or more red! Hell, maybe bacteria on our planet are that smart. That’s what an artist wants to find out.


January 3, 2012
Science

This Neon Sign Is Alive And It May Save Your Life One Day

This neon sign is made of millions of living fluorescent Escherichia coli, a rod-shaped bacterium that lives in our intestines. Biologists and bioengineers at University of California, San Diego, synchronised them to glow at the same time.


November 22, 2011
Science

‘Smart Bomb’ Mouthwash: The Laziest Dental Development Yet

Complaining about dental work is kind of like complaining about aeroplane food or your wife’s cooking — best to just avoid it unless you’re feeling Dangerfieldian. And UCLA’s got an experimental new “smart bomb” mouthwash it says might keep you out of the dentist’s chair with just once rinse every four days.


November 9, 2011
Science

Sorry, Freezing Your Jeans Will Not Ungross Them

Your jeans in the freezer: It’s a recipe for shrinkage of the worst kind, plus it won’t do anything to clean your jeans despite Levi’s recommendation to do so.


October 28, 2011
Science

Researchers Build Logic Gates From Bacteria

Finally, E. coli is good for something other than making you regret not washing that lettuce better. Boffins at the Imperial College London have employed the bacteria as living Boolean logic gates — potential building blocks for bio-computers of the future.


October 13, 2011
Science

Scientists Find Relatives Of The Bubonic Plague Still Lurking On Earth

Turns out the Black Death really was the granddaddy of them all. Scientists have mapped the genome of the bacteria that caused the bubonic plague and traced it to all modern incarnations of the disease.