Bacteria are ubiquitous, mostly free-living microorganisms often
consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a domain of
prokaryotic microorganisms. Among the first life forms to appear on
Earth, bacteria are present in most habitats. They are vital in many
stages of the nutrient cycle, where they recycle nutrients. The study of
bacteria is known as bacteriology, a branch of microbiology. Humans and
most other animals carry millions of bacteria; most bacteria in and on
the body are harmless or rendered so by the immune system, and many are
beneficial. Several species are pathogenic and cause infectious
diseases. Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections and are
also used in farming, making antibiotic resistance a growing problem.
Bacterial cells do not contain a nucleus and rarely harbour membrane-
bound organelles. Their scientific classification changed after the
discovery in the 1990s that prokaryotes consist of two groups of
organisms that evolved from a common ancestor.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteria>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1650:
Wars of the Three Kingdoms: Covenanter forces defeated the
Royalists at the Battle of Carbisdale near the village of Culrain,
Scotland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Carbisdale>
1945:
World War II: The photograph Raising the Flag on the Three-
Country Cairn was taken after German troops withdrew to Norway at the
end of the Lapland War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_the_Flag_on_the_Three-Country_Cairn>
1965:
Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation: British forces repelled a
surprise Indonesian attack on a base at Plaman Mapu in Sarawak.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Plaman_Mapu>
2005:
The Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger airliner, made
its maiden flight from Toulouse, France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A380>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
level best:
(idiomatic) The very best that one can do.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/level_best>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is the logic of our times, No subject for immortal verse —
That we who lived by honest dreams Defend the bad against the worse.
--Cecil Day Lewis
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cecil_Day_Lewis>
Show replies by date