Chinese scientists are testing whether cyanobacteria, the photosynthetic microorganisms that have shaped Earth’s soils for billions of years, can convert barren desert sand into ground capable of ...

The foundation of any happy garden is the soil. In fact, some might argue that a gardener’s job isn’t to grow plants but to cultivate healthy soil. In our desert, we are lucky to have plenty of ...

Prolonged droughts followed by sudden bursts of rainfall -- how do desert soil bacteria manage to survive such harsh conditions? This long-debated question has now been answered by microbiologists.