Fighting Cholera With Mass Vaccination
When studying bacteria it is quite easy to get fascinated with them as a laboratory specimen while forgetting the huge impact they can have in real life societies.
Lab Rat
Exploring the life and times of bacteria
Frost giants: the unfreezing of an ancient virus
One of the great things about working with bacteria and viruses is that they can be put into suspended animation by sticking them in the freezer.
Innate immunity: the first line of defence
The very first line of defence against any invasion of the human body is a set of physical barriers between the inside of the body and the outer world.
69th Carnival of Evolution: Darwin’s Day Edition
Welcome to the 69th edition of the Carnival of Evolution! As February 12th was Darwin’s birthday, this is a Darwin’s Day carnival edition. To start with there’s a celebration of all things Darwinian at Synthetic Daisies, and a letter to the man himself for his 205th birthday...
From the archives: life at 90C
I’m on holiday this week so this is an old post that appeared on my previous blog “Life of a Lab Rat” on July 1st 2010. Prokaryotes are by far the most successful superkingdom in terms of both biochemical diversity and the variety of environments conquered...
Bacteria in space!
Where humans travel, bacteria will follow. If people are in space for any amount of time, bacteria are sure to thrive there so it’s good to know that there are already researchers looking at how the environment within spaceships affects bacterial populations...
Categorising bacteria in purple and pink
When confronted with a new bacteria there are a series of simple tests that can be carried out to give a rough idea of the properties of the bacteria you are dealing with.
Dawn attack: how plants anticipate pathogen infection
Like animals, plants are susceptible to infections from bacteria, viruses and fungi. While animals have a wide variety of immune cells and in some cases an interconnected immune system plants must rely on other methods to fight infection...
The Sciences
Swirling and whirling: the movement of spherical bacteria
Research on bacterial movement tends to focus on the rod-shaped bacteria. With the aid of small waving flagella, each bacterial cell can push itself in the direction it wishes to go.
Speeding up reactions: biological vs. chemical catalysts
Most chemical reactions go pretty slowly at room temperature. This is good news most of the time, otherwise random parts of the environment would be exploding at regular intervals, but bad news for industrial processes which need reactions to occur...
Blog Index
@ScientificAmerican
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Anecdotes from the Archive
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Anthropology in Practice
Exploring the human condition.
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Beautiful Minds
Insights into intelligence, creativity, personality, and well-being
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Budding Scientist
Everything you always wanted to know about raising science-literate kids
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Cross-Check
Critical views of science in the news
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Dark Star Diaries
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Dog Spies
Explore the science behind the dog in your bed
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Extinction Countdown
News and research about endangered species from around the world
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Eye of the Storm
The Science Behind Extreme Weather
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Frontiers for Young Minds
Science by and for kids ages 8-15
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Guest Blog
Commentary invited by editors of Scientific American
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Hot Planet
Climate science in a changing world
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Illusion Chasers
Illusions, Delusions, and Everyday Deceptions
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Life, Unbounded
Discussion and news about planets, exoplanets, and astrobiology
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Observations
Opinion, arguments & analyses from guest experts and from the editors of Scientific American
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Roots of Unity
Mathematics: learning it, doing it, celebrating it.
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Rosetta Stones
Adventures in the good science of rock-breaking.
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SA Visual
STAFFIllustrating science since 1845
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Talking back
STAFFA science blog, sans blague
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The Artful Amoeba
A Blog About the Weird Wonderfulness of Life on Earth
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Voices
Exploring and celebrating diversity in science.
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