Slime Moulds: The Brainless Organisms That Can Solve Problems They have no brain, no nervous system and no neurons. Yet slime moulds can navigate mazes, find efficient routes through networks, respond to experience and make surprisingly sophisticated decisions. So, are these strange organisms intelligent — or are we simply discovering that intelligence is not what
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When Bacteria Build Their Own Cities If you think of bacteria as tiny individual cells swimming around on their own, think again. In nature, many bacteria prefer to live together in organised communities. They attach themselves to surfaces and surround themselves with a sticky, protective material that they produce themselves. The result is a biofilm —
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The Amazing Mechanisms of Microbial Dispersal Microbes may be microscopic, but they are remarkably good travellers. Every day, billions upon billions of bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms are being transported through the environment. They move through the atmosphere, rivers and oceans, across soil, between plants and animals—and even around the world with us. Some microbes
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How Microbes Could Help Build a Healthier Planet When we think about agriculture and food, we usually picture fields, crops, livestock, oceans, factories, supermarkets and finally the food on our plates. But there is another world operating throughout this entire journey — a microscopic world of bacteria, fungi, archaea, viruses and other microorganisms. These microbes are
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The Original Farmers: When we think about farming, we usually picture tractors, wheat fields, and human ingenuity. But long before the first human planted a seed, insects had already mastered agriculture. Some ants cultivate fungal gardens. Certain termites grow fungal crops in underground chambers. Even tiny beetles carry fungal spores in specialized pockets and plant them
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The war in Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has pushed the cost of oil sky high and people all over the world feel it in their pockets when they put petrol in their cars. The big question on everybody’s mind is how much higher are these prices going to skyrocket and
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How Microbes Clean Polluted Soils Microbes — especially bacteria and fungi — are among nature’s most powerful recyclers. Certain species can break down toxic chemicals, absorb heavy metals, or transform dangerous pollutants into less harmful substances. This process is known as bioremediation, and it is becoming an increasingly important tool for restoring contaminated soils around the
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A cruiseship the MV Hondius has been at the centre of an international health scare since Saturday (2 May 2026), when the World Health Organisation (WHO) was informed that a rare disease caused by the Hantavirus – usually spread from infected rodents typically through urine, droppings and saliva – was suspected of being behind the
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When most people hear the word microbes, they think of germs, illness, and infection. But the truth is far more fascinating—microorganisms are not just agents of disease; they are essential partners in human life, health, and scientific progress. Today, this natural relationship has evolved into a powerful scientific field known as microbial biotechnology—the use of
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Can Gut Bacteria Calm the Mind? For a long time, mental health and digestive health were treated as separate worlds. Anxiety was thought to belong to the brain. Gut problems belonged to the digestive system. But science has been steadily rewriting that story. A growing body of research suggests that the trillions of microbes living in
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