Prions Are Forever
The lethal proteins are in the Hard-to-Kill Hall of Fame--and may be more common than we realize
Stories by Jennifer Frazer
Shameless Bacterial Predator Remodels Its Own Prey
Bacterial big game hunters drill into victims, brace the hole, and then seal the wound behind them
Wonderful Things: A Transparent Plant
Filmy ferns live up to their name
New Zealand's Most Patriotic Mushroom
Tylopilus formosus is all black.
Music for the Space Age Houseplant
1970 called—it wants its plant playlist back
Smarty Plants--My Latest Guest Spot for Radiolab
In which we revisit the hot-button topic of plant intelligence
Fake Mushroom Lures Pollinators into Floral Trap
Unassuming houseplant uses alter ego to get lucky at insects' expense
![Marine Microbes Exchange Fire with Elaborate Subcellular Weapons [Video]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/blogs/cache/file/70B5A8B0-65A2-4827-AAAB8ADA51438C0E_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
Marine Microbes Exchange Fire with Elaborate Subcellular Weapons [Video]
Discovery “represents a new extreme in organelle complexity”
In a World of Shifting Sand, Algae Turn to Dark Fermentation
For light-loving marine microbes, living in sand means having a good Plan B
![Plants, Like People, Succumb to Anesthesia [Video]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/blogs/cache/file/D49B7FCC-EEAA-4169-861D3A77FF9C62C9_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
Plants, Like People, Succumb to Anesthesia [Video]
Putting plants under may help solve the enduring mystery of how anesthesia works
Deck the Shell with Balls of Poly
For majoid crabs, decorating is a way of life
Stromatolites Defy Odds by A) Living B) on Land
A life form that once ruled the planet has turned up unexpectedly in Tasmania
![Surprise Discovered Inside Shaggy, Shimmying Protists [Video]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/blogs/cache/file/6A71ECD8-51C3-442E-802ACF819E8B0207_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
Surprise Discovered Inside Shaggy, Shimmying Protists [Video]
Microbes contain astounding new organelle of unknown function: the rotatosome
Leaf Fungus Smoothie Brings Endangered Hawaiian Flower Back from the Brink
Yet surprisingly, the most common organism in said smoothie was the very pathogen it was trying to prevent
![World's New Deepest Fish Is Not Much to Look at [Video]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/blogs/cache/file/3864E722-C86D-4EA5-8E3B6B4CBA125E6F_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
World's New Deepest Fish Is Not Much to Look at [Video]
But it can survive pressures that would squash the very proteins of most other life
Wonderful Things: Amoebas That Grow into Candy Canes
The hindgut of aquatic insects is a surprisingly hip hangout, filled with microbes bearing resemblances to household objects
![Some Deep-Sea Ornaments to Brighten a Dark Day [Video]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/blogs/cache/file/8A8C7404-AD3C-45C7-AE392E2F5BDFB871_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
Some Deep-Sea Ornaments to Brighten a Dark Day [Video]
Slow down and savor a few moments of scientific wonder
Chocolate Trees Shower Young with Disease-Fighting Leaves
Cacao plants have an internal microbiome they can pass to seedlings just as human moms do
Bacteria Recruit Diatoms to Ice Party with Massive Anchor
An Antarctic bacterium with a protein as big as some bacteria has a special way of bringing microbes together
Unexpected Fossils Hint at Large Life 1.6 Billion Years Ago
If true, fossils found in bacterial mats push back earliest known eukaryotes by 400 million years
