Prolonged droughts followed by sudden bursts of rainfall -- how do desert soil bacteria manage to survive such harsh conditions? This long-debated question has now been answered by microbiologists.

The foundation of any happy garden is the soil. In fact, some might argue that a gardener’s job isn’t to grow plants but to cultivate healthy soil. In our desert, we are lucky to have plenty of ...

Perhaps the hardiest assemblage of lichens and other fungi and algae yet found has been hiding in plain sight in northern Chile’s Atacama Desert. This newly discovered “grit-crust,” as ecologists have ...

A new study published in The Innovation has revealed the microstructure and expansion mechanism of cyanobacteria-dominated biological soil crusts (BSCs). By employing micro-scale X-ray computed ...

Feb. 28 (UPI) --Scientists have identified unique, salt-resistant bacteria living beneath the surface of Chile's Atacama desert, the most Mars-like environment on Earth. Researchers used a robotic ...

The animals help redistribute calcium and phosphorous by crunching bones. This is an Inside Science story. The crushing jaws of hyenas may act as a kind of nutrient blender, grinding out calcium and ...

Led by an international team of scientists, the study focused on converting pineapple peels into fibers through mechanochemical treatments including shredding, alkali processing, bleaching, and ball ...

Climate change is making historically wet and temperate areas behave more like deserts, a new study has found. By the end of the century, the researchers project that an additional global area about ...