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Despite its popularity, the science and regulations sur- rounding microbiome testing are still catching up, high- lighting the need for better standards and oversight.

Regulatory Gaps Plague At-Home Microbiome Tests

When Barry Hicks set out to photograph thrombolites, thousands of unexpected visitors    photobombed his underwater images.

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Epic Fail: Sea-Monkeys Sabotage Fieldwork

TS Digest

 Contamination and the Curious Case of Noodlococcus

Image of a bright yellow noodle-like bacterial colony growing on an agar plate. There are three smaller white and mucoid colonies next to it.

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Image of a grey microbial growth on a blood agar plate. The grey colonies resemble steel or wire wool, with circular loops repeating across the agar plate.

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Image of white, dumpling-like bacterial colonies on an agar plate.

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Contamination and the Curious Case of Noodlococcus

Science Snapshot

Poorti Kathpalia stands in front of a big banner.

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Illustration of some kids playing card games, signifying STEM games.

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Career Chat: Building a STEM Games Company

Article

Image of four people, two women and two boys, sitting around a table outside. Of these figures, one boy is Wolfgang Hesse, and one woman is Fanny Angelina Hesse (left) in Dresden circa 1930.

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Image of a graphic illustration depicting the figure of a woman with three text boxes in yellow. These text boxes describe the woman, Fanny Angelina Hesse, as not having scientific training, but rather just referred to as a German housewife.

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Image of a circular logo. A woman’s side profile dominates the right side of the circle, while the innermost section depicts colorful illustrations of microbes. The text wrapping around the logo says, “The Dessert that Changed the World.”

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Reviving a Forgotten Microbiology Heroine in a Graphic Novel

A photo of a scientist adding cell culture medium to a 96-well microplate using a pipette.

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BMG LABTECH

Advancing Microbiology Research with Real-Time Measurements

Video

Photo of a giraffe bending over to stare at the camera against a white background. 

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How Is Information Transmitted in Large Animals?

Explainer

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Vector illustration of video production, including a video camera, a director clapper, and images depicting video footage and editing.

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From Lab to Video Feed: A Biologist Distills Science in 60 Seconds

Photograph of trading cards themed after Pokemon cards that have AI-generated images of immune cells on them.

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Photograph of Marion Brunck showing a group of third graders her immunology trading cards. 

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Photograph of different Pokémon cards spread disorderly out over a red and white checked blanket. 

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Pok&eacute;mon-Inspired Cards Teach Immunology to Kids

Interview

An oil painting of pitcher plants against a cloudy mountain backdrop.

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A selfie of Chris Thorogood with his large painting of a jade vine.

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A black-and-white pencil sketch of four people in a forest with a flower in the middle. 

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Botanist Chris Thorogood Brings Plants to Life Through Paintings

An artist’s portrait of Marie Maynard Daly in a white lab coat and yellow top standing in front of chemical structures of nucleotide bases and a drawing of a blood vessel with the word cholesterol next to it.

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An artist’s portrait of Uzma Khan holding an Indus River dolphin in front of a map of Pakistan.

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The Matilda Project Spotlights Overlooked Female Scientists through Art

 A group of microbiologists didn’t expect a noodle-like growth would turn into an    online community that celebrated contamination.