bacteria

A red car and a large salt truck drive on a snowy road next to a mountain.

Can bacteria help us prevent salt damage to concrete roads and bridges?

Science

Spring has long been filled with bumps and potholes in roads, many of which are caused by the salt that makes driving safe all winter. New research has shown how this annual problem could become a thing of the past with bacteria, which are being used in the fight to maintain our roads and save our streets from costly damage.

Magnified red microbes float among a yellow background

A micro safari through household germs reveals that cleanliness isn’t always a good thing

Medicine
microbiome

Not just gut bugs: Our microbiomes can even affect cancer treatments

Health
The World

Studying splashes to learn more about how disease spreads

Health
clouds

Bacteria are thriving in the sky — and they influence the weather

Science
A syringe.

Mining nature for the next groundbreaking antibiotic

Health

The WHO has warned that we’re headed for a “post-antibiotic era.” But the next penicillin could be in your backyard.

Microscopic synthetic structures are specially shaped objects that perform or move in intended ways when acted on by swarms of bacteria.

The dawn of the cyborg bacteria is here

Science

It might be, but at a tiny level: Scientists at UPenn are working on using bacteria to control small synthetic structures, hoping to one day use them to deliver highly targeted doses of medicine. And don’t worry about the apocalypse: They still can’t defeat a bottle of bleach.