New petroleum-degrading bacteria found at Rancho La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles

User rating: 4.7 / 5 after 19 vote(s)

A tar pit at Rancho La Brea. Pits like these have yielded thousands of animal fossils. Credit: D. E. Crowley UCR
A tar pit at Rancho La Brea. Pits like these have yielded thousands of animal fossils. Credit: D. E. Crowley, UCR

Environmental scientists at UC Riverside have discovered that the Rancho La Brea tar pits in downtown Los Angeles, Calif., house hundreds of new species of bacteria with unusual properties, allowing the bacteria to survive and grow in heavy oil and natural asphalt.


Full story »
All News summaries from General Science news
All News summaries for May 10, 2007

Large population of endangered dolphins found off Bangladesh

9 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
The world's largest population of vulnerable Irrawaddy dolphins -- famed as aquarium attractions -- has been found in Bangladesh's waters, according to a five-year wildlife study.

Endangered Miss. frogs get a break in the weather

9 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
(AP) -- Pick up a Mississippi gopher frog and it covers its eyes with its forefeet, like someone afraid to see what's coming next. And for at least a decade, it's had a good reason not to look.

Nobel Prize winner Dr. George Palade dies at 95

9 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
(AP) -- Dr. George Palade, who won a Nobel Prize in 1974 for his work isolating and identifying cell structure and helped create one of the leading cell biology programs in the nation at the University of ...

Lost manatee headed to Fla. after Mass. rescue

9 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
(AP) -- A wayward manatee is headed home to Florida after being pulled from frigid Cape Cod waters in an early morning rescue.

Landmark study unlocks stem cell, DNA secrets to speed therapies

Oct 10, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
In a groundbreaking study led by an eminent molecular biologist at Florida State University, researchers have discovered that as embryonic stem cells turn into different cell types, there are dramatic corresponding ...
Goto Archive PhysOrg Forum Goto Archive Video Goto Archive Editorials Goto Archive Free Magazines Goto Archive Newsletter

News Archive