WEIRD NATURE 
							
						
			            																									
							
							
									
				
					
	
					
	
		Certain strains of E. coli can outcompete disease-causing microbes for resources. NIAID/Flickr, CC BY-SA – By Sarguru Subash, Assistant Professor of Veterinary Pathobiology, Texas A&M University Published: 2024 Nov 15 – Millions of people in the U.S. and around the world suffer from …	
	        
        				
						
			            																									
							
							
									
				
					
	
					
	
		Honorable Mention: Crystalline pattern, like the big cotton padded jacket pattern handed down during the Chinese Spring Festival.  Ji Yuan   View 16 Images – By Michael Irving 2024 Nov 15 – An annual photography competition, celebrating scientific microscopic images, has unveiled this year’s winners. …	
	        
        				
						
			            			
																												
							
							
									
				
					
	
					
	
		This little gadget gives you instant, inexpensive access to the microscopic world.  Kickstarter  View 14 Images – By Bronwyn Thompson 2024 Nov 11 – Six years on from the first iMicro smartphone microscope, the team has unveiled its latest: the iMicro Q3p, a fingertip-sized, …	
	        
        				
						
			            																									
							
							
									
				
					
	
					
	
		Using location-unique bacterial samples, an AI tool can pinpoint where you’ve been. DALL-E – By Paul McClure 2024 Nov 10 – We naturally pick up microorganisms as we move about the world. Now, researchers have developed an AI tool that accurately links you to …	
	        
        				
						
			            									
																						
							
							
									
				
					
	
					
	
		The entrance to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Martin Zwick/REDA&CO/Universal Images Group via Getty Images – By Adriana Craciun, Professor of English and Emma MacLachlan Metcalf Chair of Humanities, Boston University Published: 2024 Nov 04 – Two-thirds of the world’s food comes today …	
	        
        				
						
			            																									
							
							
									
				
					
	
					
	
		A handful of antibiotics and plastics, not at all what the doctor ordered, in this rendering. –  By Joe Salas 2024 Nov 03 – A recent study has shown that nanoplastics – plastic particles smaller than 0.001 millimeters – affect the body’s ability to …	
	        
        				
						
			            															
																
							
							
									
				
					
	
					
	
		Actin filaments (pink) are affected by aging, but can be switched off via genes  Depositphotos – By Paul McClure 2024 Nov 02 – Not only have researchers identified how a common cellular protein affects aging, but they’ve tweaked the genes that produce it in …	
	        
        				
						
			            																									
							
							
									
				
					
	
					
	
		The AirNEST system is presently on Kickstarter.  Rise Outdoor  View 5 Images – By Ben Coxworth 2024 Oct 31 – Inflatable tents are easy to set up, and inflatable camp mattresses are nice n’ comfy, so why not combine the two? That’s just what …	
	        
        				
						
			            																					
										
							
							
									
				
					
	
					
	
		Minghui Yuan – Cleaners in the Rainforest.  Minghui Yuan / CUPOTY  View 19 Images – By Abhimanyu Ghoshal 2024 Oct 29 – It’s that time of the year again. We’ve got our hands on the shortlisted pictures from the 2024 Close-up Photographer of the …	
	        
        				
						
			            																									
							
							
									
				
					
	
					
	
		Black is beautiful. Akeem Ranmal/500px via Getty Images – By Elizabeth Carlen, Living Earth Collaborative Postdoctoral Fellow, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and by Tyus Williams, Ph.D. Candidate in Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley Published: 2024 …