biodiversity, microbiology, ecology

The new database includes data from 27,000 samples collected at sites ranging from Alaskan permafrost to the ocean floor.

The Scientist reviews Serendipity, Complexity, The Human Superorgasism, and Love and Ruin

Life on Earth is mind-bogglingly diverse with estimates of the number of existing species in the tens of millions. Over the last 4 billion years, many species have gone extinct; and because of the actions of humans, many existing species are now endangered.