Petroleum pipeline leaks are costly – for business and for the environment. Researchers are now developing bacteria-based sensors to detect hydrocarbons released by a leak – and emit a wireless alert signal to technicians.

Researchers at MIT and the Max Planck Institute have developed a method for quick, on-site E. coli detection in food. While current food safety testing either requires days to complete or expensive equipment, this new method, paired with a smartphone and QR code, will make testing inexpensive and portable. The new detection process uses Janus emulsions, droplets consisting of two hemispheres of different densities. In water, the less dense, hydrocarbon hemisphere sits above the denser hemisphere

It's possible you may have heard in the news, or from your friends, that antibiotics are becoming less powerful over time as the bacteria they are designed to attack evolve the ability to resist attacks. A team of researchers from the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, have been working on re-designing a 60-year-old antibiotic called Vancomycin so that the dangerous 'super-bog' enterococci can no longer resist it, and progress looks favourable. Check out the BBC Health article

Yogurt is ubiquitous across most cultures (har har... science pun), and has an ancient origin. If you ever wondered what gives yogurt its taste, and how you could make it yourself .. check out this article from "Science & Food."