Think of bacteria, and you probably think of illness, infection, and other unpleasantries. But this picture shows that they have a beautiful side after all. Read More >>

Sure, your phone might look clean, but it isn't really. In fact, it's covered in bacteria—and this image shows how horrible they are. Read More >>

Lots of people have the 5-second rule, some even the 10-second rule, but really, is it ever safe to eat food off the floor? Is there an amount of time you can safely whip your food back off the floor and eat it, without it actually getting totally caked in bacteria? Yuck. [YouTube via The Awesomer] Read More >>

To anyone who's ever had their nurturing nature questioned, science now offers an infallible retort in the form of your lush, thriving belly button growth. Read More >>

The gold you see in the photo above was not found in a river or a mine. It was produced by a bacteria that, according to researchers at Michigan State University, can survive in extreme toxic environments and create 24-carat gold nuggets. Pure gold. Read More >>

These woozy prints of the famous faces of Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin were created using a modified photo printing process invented by artist Zachary Copfer. Rather than use traditional light-sensitive photo emulsion to print photos, he instead used a special genetically altered E coli. It's gross to think about, but oh so beautiful to look at. Read More >>

A drug-resistant superbug could be catastrophic for our species. How do you stop an incurable illness? By stunting it before it takes hold. Scientists have discovered a molecule that some virulent bacteria need in order to latch onto a host. They think they might be able to create a treatment that would render the molecule useless. Can we finally cross one doomsday scenario off our list of fears? Read More >>

Imagine a bacteria that could not only suck the excess CO2 out of the air, but turn that waste gas into a clean-burning biofuel for cars. If the current research on genetically-engineered bacteria goes to plan at MIT, these wonder creatures could help solve our energy and climate woes. Read More >>

New research suggests that exposure to certain microbes during infancy—particularly, to those from a particular strain of bacteria found in dogs—can alter the intestinal flora of a baby's developing GI tract such that asthmatic symptoms of a common virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), are undetectable. Read More >>

Perhaps you think all it takes to get your dishes clean is a little good old fashioned elbow grease, a sponge, and some washing up liquid. Perhaps you should think again. Read More >>

Sometimes its hard to keep your desk clean and tidy. Turns out, men seem to find it a bigger problem, because a recent study suggests that men have far, far dirtier desks than women. Read More >>

Who among us hasn't quickly reclaimed a floor cookie when no one was looking? If nobody's seen: it didn't happen and it's not dirty. Well, not quite. Read More >>

A young researcher from San Francisco has died after being infected by a highly virulent strain of meningococcal disease he was studying—and there are fears that it could spread. Read More >>

Heaps of sea creatures glow to produce light—often in order to see in the murky depths. But scientists have discovered that many bacteria glow for a very strange reason; they want to get eaten. Read More >>

It was a major breakthrough in 1995: After 13 months, scientists 13 finally sequenced the entire genome of a bacteria. These days, a gene-slinger can do it in a few seconds. With a USB stick. Read More >>