MicrobeWorld

Scientists and microbe hunters along San Francisco Bay have teamed up to explore the microbial diversity of a small area they have named 'The Weep'. 'If the world can be seen in a grain of sand, as poet William Blake wrote, just imagine the inner life of a ditch. A crowd of microbe hunters had plenty to imagine on Saturday as they crowded around an Alviso puddle and marveled at its Amazonian-scale diversity of creatures too small to be seen by the naked eye. This humble setting — the site of a four-year project by a photographer and microbiologist — holds thousands of varieties of microbes. Wide swings in salinity and moisture cause dominant species rise and fall quickly, creating an ever-changing tapestry of color.'