`Permian mass extinction triggered by microbe`

Last Updated: Sunday, December 16, 2012, 16:08

A humble microbe, instead of a devastating meteorite or a catastrophic volcanic eruption, wiped off over 90 percent of the species on Earth 251-million-years ago.

Ancient microbes found in salty, ice-sealed Antarctic lake

Last Updated: Tuesday, November 27, 2012, 17:04

Scientists have discovered abundant and diverse metabolically active bacteria in the brine of an Antarctic lake sealed under more than 65 feet of ice, shedding light on the limits of life in extreme environments.

Third of Earth`s organisms live in rocks, sediments

Last Updated: Thursday, August 9, 2012, 12:01

A third of the Earth`s organisms live in our planet`s rocks and sediments - and the amount could even be greater undersea than what we find on the surface, scientists say.

Ocean census uncovers `new world` of marine microbe life

Last Updated: Monday, April 19, 2010, 08:56

An ocean census has revealed a "new world" of richly diverse marine microbe life that could help scientists understand more about key environmental processes on Earth, a study said on Sunday.

CSMCRI discovers microbe to manufacture bio-degradable plastic

Last Updated: Monday, March 29, 2010, 13:59

In what is being considered a breakthrough, a Bhavnagar-based central institute has discovered a microbe that lives in waters, to manufacture bio-degradable plastic using a by-product of Jatropha plant.

Why doesn`t cheating pay in the amoeba world

Last Updated: Monday, October 12, 2009, 18:58

Cheaters may prosper in the short term, but they are doomed to fail, at least in the microscopic world of amoebas, say researchers.

New microbe strain can make more electricity

Last Updated: Sunday, August 2, 2009, 15:58

In new experiments with Geobacter, the sediment-loving microbe, Derek Lovley and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst supervised the evolution of a new microbe strain that dramatically increases power output.