energy and environment

Mostly hidden from the scrutiny of the naked eye, microbes have been said to run the world. The challenge is how best to characterize them given that less than one percent of the estimated hundreds of millions of microbial species can be cultured in the laboratory.

The answer is metagenomics -- an increasingly popular approach for extracting the genomes of uncultured microorganisms and discerning their specific metabolic capabilities directly from environmental samples.

(University of Houston) Noted energy and environment experts are addressing the implications of climate change for the world and for the Houston area weekly at the University of Houston through November.

Among topics discussed are what can be done both globally and locally to slow down climate change, as well as adapt to its effects.

The "Science and Policy of Climate Change" lecture series is free and open to the public.