Anywhere in the world
Bacteria live anywhere, even in the most extreme environments where no other form of life could survive. They can be found in the ocean depths, in the desert, in the hot waters of volcanic springs, inside rocks, in the frosty soil of the permafrost and even in environments so acidic they could destroy any other form of life. Many bacterial species live inside or on other organisms as symbionts or parasites. Symbiosis is an association between two or more species, which benefits each component; conversely, in parasitism only one of the members benefits from the association (the parasite), while the other (the host) is damaged by it.
Our body too is inhabited by very many species of bacteria. Every square centimetre of our skin is populated by thousands of bacterial cells that reproduce endlessly. Our gastrointestinal apparatus contains up to 500 different bacterial species, mostly living in the colon.
Special reports
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10 October 2022
Spider lullaby
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19 September 2022
Double blow to dinosaurs
The Main Asteroid Belt is between Mars and Jupiter, an enormous ring consisting of millions of large and small rocks…
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24 May 2022
Amphibians in peril
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) warns: the extinction rate of amphibians is about 200 times greater than…
8 March 2022
8 March. We remember Rosalind Franklin, the great female DNA scientist.
DNA was first isolated by Friedrich Miescher, a Swiss biochemist in 1869. It was a brilliant, but not complicated operation:…
27 February 2022
In search of the riders of icebergs
International Polar Bear Day, set up by Polar Bears International, a non-profit organisation, was held on 27 February. The aim…
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12 February 2022
A naturalist’s voyage around the world
Charles Darwin was just 22 years old when he set sail on board HMS Beagle...
18 December 2021
The Christmas Star Tradition
Let's discover together stories and legends about the Christmas Star...
15 September 2021
Can you be intelligent without a brain?
Can you be intelligent without a brain? The answer is "in a certain sense, yes" and this is demonstrated by…
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10 October 2022
Spider lullaby
There are spiders that weave a classic web, that one we all know, to catch prey. There are others who…
-
19 September 2022
Double blow to dinosaurs
The Main Asteroid Belt is between Mars and Jupiter, an enormous ring consisting of millions of large and small rocks…
24 May 2022
Amphibians in peril
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) warns: the extinction rate of amphibians is about 200 times greater than…
-
8 March 2022
8 March. We remember Rosalind Franklin, the great female DNA scientist.
DNA was first isolated by Friedrich Miescher, a Swiss biochemist in 1869. It was a brilliant, but not complicated operation:…
27 February 2022
In search of the riders of icebergs
International Polar Bear Day, set up by Polar Bears International, a non-profit organisation, was held on 27 February. The aim…
-
10 October 2022
Spider lullaby
There are spiders that weave a classic web, that one we all know, to catch prey. There are others who…
-
19 September 2022
Double blow to dinosaurs
The Main Asteroid Belt is between Mars and Jupiter, an enormous ring consisting of millions of large and small rocks…
From the Multimedia section
Facts
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Down-pouring bacteria
It sounds incredible, but recent researches have found that bacteria can cause some atmospheric phenomena...
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Bacteria as Sherlock Holmes
A drop of blood, a fragment of skin or a hair found on the scene of a crime can supply…
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Bio-luminescence
Many sea animals, including a lot of fish and molluscs that live in the dark in the ocean depths...
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13 May 2011
Down-pouring bacteria
It sounds incredible, but recent researches have found that bacteria can cause some atmospheric phenomena...
-
Bacteria as Sherlock Holmes
A drop of blood, a fragment of skin or a hair found on the scene of a crime can supply…
-
Down-pouring bacteria
It sounds incredible, but recent researches have found that bacteria can cause some atmospheric phenomena...