• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • WordPress
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
Science Update

Science Update

Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS

  • Spotlights
  • Reality Check
  • Why Is It?
  • Radio Archives
  • Sciup @ School
Home » Radio Archive » Daily Show » Useful Bacteria Roundup

Useful Bacteria Roundup

August 10, 2007
https://podcast.scienceupdate.com/070810_sciup_bact.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window

BOB HIRSHON (host):
A real asphalt jungle. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.
The LaBrea Tar Pits of southern California are packed with the fossils of ice age animals that were trapped in them thousands of years ago. But not all of the organisms trapped there died. Some bacteria adapted to the natural asphalt and eventually thrived there. Scientists at the University of California Riverside recently identified a variety of bacteria that live deep inside the tar and use it as a food source. They hope to study the microorganisms and find ways to use them to help clean up oil spills and process petroleum into other useful compounds.
In other useful bacteria news, scientists at Emory have turned microbes into little robots, programmed to navigate their way to chemical targets. Their hope is to engineer the bacteria to carry drugs or break down pollutants, and then train them to swim their way to wherever they’re needed. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.

Category: Daily ShowTag: Biology, Chemistry, Engineering & Technology, Environment & Conservation, Materials Science, Microbiology, Paleontology & Dinosaurs
Previous Post:Hill-Climbing Robots
Next Post:Dinosaur Takeover

Sidebar

Radio Program Archives

Want to learn more about the brain? The environment? Here you can browse the topics that come up regularly on Science Update.

Search the Archives

Categories

  • Daily Show
  • Station Download
  • Weekly Show

Find By Tag

  • 2020
  • Acoustics & Sound
  • Aging
  • Animal Behavior
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Astronomy & Space
  • Biology
  • Brain Science
  • Bugs
  • Chemistry
  • Children & Families
  • cicadas
  • Climate & Weather
  • Communications
  • Computer Science
  • Economics & Business
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Environment & Conservation
  • Genetics & Evolution
  • Geology
  • Marine Science
  • Materials Science
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine & Health
  • Microbiology
  • Nanotechnology
  • Nutrition & Food Science
  • Paleontology & Dinosaurs
  • Physics
  • Plants & Agriculture
  • Political Science
  • Reality Check
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Sports & Fitness
  • spotlight
  • Spotlight Bugs
  • Terrorism & War
  • Why Is It? Questions
  • Wildlife
  • Year in Review

Find By Date

Science Update
  • About Science Update
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

Mayan Honeybee hives
House sparrow wearing top hat rides aboard a red fireworks rocket

Copyright © 2023 · Springtail Media LLC · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Pongos