Measuring Marine Microbes

Series produced by Terrascope Radio

Series image
Image by: Francisco Feijo Delgado 

Do populations of microbes, such as bacteria, have a kind of "social" structure? What happens if you put a microbe on the world's smallest diving board, and why would you do that in the first place? In search of answers to these and other questions, Measuring Marine Microbes takes you into the lab, out to the lunch trucks where scientists have some of their best ideas, and beyond. Produced with funding from the National Science Foundation.

Do populations of microbes, such as bacteria, have a kind of "social" structure? How quickly does an individual microbe grow? What happens if you put a microbe on the world's smallest diving board, and why would you do that in the first place? Measuring Marine Microbes takes you behind the scenes, as scientists in the labs of Professors Martin Polz and Scott Manalis at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) answer those and other questions. Produced by undergraduates in the MIT Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, in collaboration with the MIT Terrascope program, this light-hearted, funny, informative podcast takes you into the lab, out to the lunch trucks where scientists have some of their best ideas, and beyond. Produced with funding from the National Science Foundation.


4 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Piece image
When you were a child, your parents might have measured you against a doorpost or chart every birthday, to mark how rapidly you were growing. Perha...

  • Added: Mar 08, 2013
  • Length: 08:45
Piece image
Two professors walk up to a lunch truck, and the conversation they have there may change the way we study microbiology. Sometimes science has a lot...

  • Added: Nov 27, 2013
  • Length: 07:21
Piece image
It's like gang warfare, but with really tiny gang members. Some microbes provide their relatives with protection, emitting antibiotics that kill of...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: May 15, 2015
  • Length: 04:07
  • Purchases: 1
Piece image
If you send scientists to the beach, they may come back with the next way to produce biofuels. But it takes a lot of collaboration along the way.

  • Added: May 15, 2015
  • Length: 09:36