bacteria

Your skin hosts ~1,000 bacterial species, fungi, viruses, and mites. How the skin microbiome shapes acne, eczema, odor, and immunity.

What the gut microbiome is, what it does for digestion, immunity and the brain, and which findings are well established versus still early research.

ISS experiments reveal that bacteria behave differently in microgravity, becoming more virulent and developing antibiotic resistance faster—with surprising implications for spacecraft safety and planetary protection.

In the 1670s, Anton van Leeuwenhoek ground tiny lenses and became the first human to see microorganisms — bacteria, protozoa, and sperm cells. His observations opened the microbial world and laid the groundwork for germ theory.

Bacteria have been on Earth for 3.5 billion years, outnumber all complex life combined, and solve optimization problems better than human computers in some cases. If they evolved intelligence through natural selection, they could become the dominant lifeform on Earth — and humanity might not stand a chance.

Antibiotics transformed medicine. Used right, they cure deadly infections in days. Used wrong, they're driving one of the biggest health threats we face. Here's how they really work.

Viruses and bacteria both cause infections and both are too small to see, yet they differ in size, structure, reproduction, and treatment. Here is how to tell them apart.