Bacteria to Power Micro Machines

Scientists have discovered that common bacteria can turn into micro-gears hundreds of times larger than itself when suspended in a solution. This provides insight into bio-inspired dynamically adaptive materials for energy. The ability to harness and control the power of bacterial motions is an important requirement for further developing hybrid bio-mechanical systems driven by micro-organisms. A few hundred bacteria are working together in order to turn the gear. The speed at which the gears turn can also be controlled through the manipulation of oxygen in the suspended liquid.

Reference: Science Daily

Insight of Evolution of Higher Life

Human beings may not have existed without the ancient fusing of two prokaryotes - actinobacteria and clostridia - to create 'double-membrane' prokaryotes, life forms without cellular nucleus. According to James Lake, UCLA molecular biologist, discovered the first prokaryote endosymbiosis (all other known endosymbiosis involved cell that contains a nucleus).

The oxygen on Earth is the result of a subgroup of these double-membrane prokaryotes, called cyanobacteria. They harnessed the sun's energy using photosynthesis to produce oxygen. Furthermore, the double-membrane prokaryotic fusion supplied the mitochondria that are present in every human cell.

Reference

University of California - Los Angeles. "Research Reveals Major Insight Into Evolution Of Life On Earth." ScienceDaily 20 August 2009. 21 August 2009 .