Word: bacterias
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...location. It spreads out slowly and sinks only gradually. But in the churning sea off the Shetlands, the spill quickly became three-dimensional and spread rapidly over a wide area -- at which point, some scientists argue, the concentration of oil is no longer dangerously high. The sea contains bacteria and other microbes that will naturally break down the oil droplets until they are eventually reduced to little more than carbon dioxide and water...
True believers would rather speak of the miracles they have witnessed: healings, metal rosaries turned to gold, crosses silhouetted in the sun. They faithfully sample water from the farm's "holy well," despite local health warnings that the contents are contaminated with coliform bacteria...
Even more to their astonishment, researchers discovered that biology played an important role in the rock-dissolving process. By poring over slices of limestone under microscopes, scientists found the fossil remains of primitive bacteria that had thrived in the once hostile environment. Using sulfur instead of sunlight as their source of energy, these organisms actually bolstered the acid's power to etch rock. Descendants of these strange microbes have recently been found and are being studied at Lechuguilla Cave, not far from Carlsbad...
...issue is the balance between two very different types of research: basic and applied. Basic scientists pursue knowledge for its own sake. They may study the sex lives of bacteria growing in Petri dishes or use giant accelerators to smash protons together to see what kinds of subatomic debris come out. Applied scientists, in contrast, have a social goal in mind. They take the knowledge gained from basic science and try to apply it to solving a problem or creating a new technology. They may use their understanding of light waves to construct an optical computer or test a drug...
...technological advances as new non-toxic solvents for washing aircraft engines, and plastic granules to replace grit for blasting paint off aircraft fuselage parts. Baking soda is being tested as a nonlethal paint remover, and scientists are also investigating the potential for lasers to do the job. Noting that bacteria can strip paint from buried tin cans, scientists are examining the feasibility of getting microorganisms to do the same job for aircraft fuselages...