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  • The Christian Science Monitor

    Cave diving, microbes, and slime: A love story

    Feb 20, 2020 4 minutes
    Jennifer Macalady, a geomicrobiologist and biogeochemist at Pennsylvania State University, looks for clues to the origins of life on Earth, as well as to potential life on other planets. She points out self-sustaining microbial ecosystems known as Winogradsky columns in her office on Oct. 28, 2019.

    Some people decorate their offices with flowers, family photos, or art. Jennifer Macalady prefers bottles of sludge.

    “They’re super cool,” she says, peering at what, at a glance, looks like someone’s smoothie that’s been left out for several days. 

    The jars actually contain self-sustaining microbial ecosystems known as Winogradsky columns. In the light, layered colors emerge. There’s a purple layer from a sulfur-eating phototroph, a black shade from pyrite, and a green tint from cyanobacteria. A closer inspection reveals a weird and sinuous beauty.

    The bottles are fitting decorations for a slime-obsessed scientist who delves into the most-overlooked environments on Earth.

    The biology belowUnearthing a whole new worldOut of the box biology

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