Healthy land

Land has a wide variety of uses: agricultural, residential, industrial, and recreational. Microbes play a key role in the terrestrial ecosystem, providing symbiotic relationships with plants. Human use of land has led to the exhaustion of nutrients in soils, contamination of land, and a reduction in biodiversity. Applying our knowledge of microbes will be essential in restoring the biodiversity of affected ecosystems. Greater research into how microbes impact human life on land could all have a positive impact, by increasing crop production, repurposing areas of land and improving microbial biodiversity in soil, land, and water.

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Molecular clock analysis shows bacteria used oxygen long before widespread photosynthesis

Researchers have constructed a detailed timeline for bacterial evolution and oxygen adaptation. Their findings suggest some bacteria could use trace oxygen long before evolving the ability to produce it through photosynthesis. 

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More Healthy Land

Temperature sensor

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An intelligent device for detecting infections using the temperature of the skin

Based on a flexible, self-sustaining thermoelectric system, scientists created an intelligent temperature-sensing device to detect inflammations and infections, which can assist clinical decisions upon monitoring wounds and lesions.