In a few decades, the Titanic might be unrecognisable thanks to hungry bacteria. Halomonas titanicae is one of many species of bacteria that turn iron into rust, but H. titanicae takes it to the next level. Discovered in 1991 on the Titanic but only identified as a previously undiscovered species in 2010, H. titanicae digests rust made by other bacteria, eating large parts of the famous shipwreck. Normally, these rust-loving bacteria live on the seafloor but, when shipwrecks settle on the seafloor, they start to climb onto their new home. Read full article here
Science
‘Ghostly’ neutrinos provide new path to study protons
In groundbreaking research, an international collaboration of scientists from the University of Rochester have used a beam of neutrinos to measure the size and shape of the protons that make up the nuclei of atoms. This feat, once thought impossible, provides scientists with a new way of looking at the small components of an atom’s nucleus and opens up a wealth of new information about the structure of an atom’s nucleus and the dynamics of the forces that affect neutrino interactions. The researchers solved the challenge of harnessing neutrinos in large numbers by using a neutrino detector containing a target of both hydrogen and carbon atoms, and over nine years of data collection at Fermilab’s accelerator. Read full article here
Merv
March 25, 2023
