Bacteria that ‘eat pollution’ and emit electricity captured in hot springs for first time

Scientists hope 'electrogenic' microbes could one day be used to power devices

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/bacteria-electricity-pollution-hot-springs-yellowstone-national-park-a8812016.html

Tiny creatures that can “eat” pollution and generate electricity in the process have been captured for the first time.

Scientists trekked into the depths of Yellowstone National Park to extract these bacteria, which are adapted to living in geysers and hot springs that can reach over 90C.

The so-called “electrogenic” microbes were targeted due to their ability to produce power, which experts hope could be harnessed in the future to drive devices.

However, publishing their findings in the Journal of Power Sources, the scientists admitted this could be tricky because of the extreme environments the bacteria lives in, which is why they had to test their abilities in the field.

“This was the first time such bacteria were collected in situ in an extreme environment like an alkaline hot spring,” said Abdelrhman Mohamed, a PhD student at Washington State University who led the research.

The worlds biggest problems are really not that big.