A microbe that thrives inside the trunk of a tree could prove to be the future source of biofuels. It was discovered by mistake in an undisclosed location in the northern Patagonian woods. The team of researchers who came upon it and who tapped the potential of their finding have dubbed the resulting hydrocarbon com... |
7 November 2008
02:43 GMT |
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Although the presence of methane in Mars' atmosphere has been positively identified more than four years ago by three different sources, its provenience still eludes scientists. On Earth, we have the biomass to blame, namely the decaying plants and animal flatulence, but since none of these exists on Mars, a via... |
6 November 2008
04:31 GMT |
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Finding inhospitable places for life on Earth is extremely difficult; just about any location you can lay your eyes on is most likely populated to some extent with microbial life, if not with other living specimens. Researchers from the Mars Astrobiology Research and Technology Experiment, MARTE for short, have recen... |
22 May 2008
10:00 GMT |
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If you once were or still are a Star Trek fan, then you probably already know what a tricorder is or what it should be; it's a handheld device that practically acts as a biological laboratory. And, as usual, Sci-Fi once again becomes reality. A device similar to the tricorder, called LOCAD-PTS, standing for Lab-... |
12 May 2008
04:24 GMT |
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Biomimetics employs organisms as models for building new machines. But now new machines could be made of organisms. In fact, tiny machines from microorganisms. The single-celled Spirostomum, a Paramecium-related protozoan, resembling a tiny brown worm, can contract its 0.5 mm-long body to 25% of its length in a milli... |
27 April 2007
06:58 GMT |
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