Chemistry

Mice that were fed bacteria isolated from elite athletes logged more treadmill time than other mice that got bacteria found in yogurt.

Rather than wiping microbes out, antiperspirants and foot powders increased the diversity of microbial flora in armpits and between toes. Christopher Intagliata reports.

People appear to consume between 74,000 and 121,000 microplastic particles annually, and that's probably a gross underestimate.

At the third Scientific American “Science on the Hill” event, “Solving the Plastic Waste Problem”, one of the issues discussed by experts on Capitol Hill was biodegradability.   

Frances Arnold, the Caltech scientist who shared the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, says evolution can show us how to solve problems of sustainability.

The residue of ancient urine can reveal the presence of early stationary herder-farmer communities.

In his memoirs, the womanizing writer Giacomo Casanova described suffering several bouts of gonorrhea—but researchers found no trace of the microbe on his handwritten journals. Karen Hopkin reports.

Heavy metal levels in commercial booze pose no health risk to most drinkers, but the findings could prompt discussions about industry standards for alcohol

A growing body of research is challenging the assumption that neonicotinoids are safer and less likely to spread than other pesticides

A few brief reports about international science and technology from Liberia to Hawaii, including one on the discovery in Northern Ireland of soil bacteria that stop the growth of MRSA and other superbugs.

Critics say changes to the agency’s review process will harm public health