Thanks to @aberuni.bsky.social for highlighting the phenomenal hard work of Drs @geomicrosoares.bsky.social @sararassner.bsky.social and team in mapping the microbiota of the South Wales coalfield. Prospects for future energy emerges from the legacy of fossil energy. academic.oup.com/femsec/artic...

Hydrogeological and geological partitioning of iron and sulfur cycling bacterial consortia in subsurface coal-based mine waters

First spatio-temporal overview of South Wales Coalfield bacterial community structures reveals cooccurrence of Fe- and S-oxidizing bacterial pairs, suggest

academic.oup.com

Aberystwyth University @aberuni.bsky.social · 12mo ago

🦠 Our scientists have mapped the hidden microbes thriving in south Wales’s abandoned coal mines, helping to overcome obstacles to using mine water to heat Britain’s homes. 🖱️ tinyurl.com/w4ye3644 @aberdlsagb.bsky.social @arwynedwards.bsky.social

Hydrology Paper of the Day @geomicrosoares.bsky.social @sararassner.bsky.social on pyrite oxidation and microbial activity in a coal-based aquifer: spatial bacterial sampling and DNA extraction for 117 water samples; ion geochemistry; geological and geochemical controls; and microbial niches.

André Soares@geomicrosoares.bsky.social · last yr.

Another PhD paper out! 🎉 Me and @sararassner.bsky.social looked into microbial communities (16S rRNA gene amplicons 🧬) of the south Wales coalfield across time and geography to uncover their ecology, intrinsically connected to regional hydrology and hydrochemistry. 🦠

Turns out that hydrogeologically units (mine water blocks) & coal rank explained most of the bacterial variation across sites. Great to finally have this out, thanks to co-authors, including @geomicrosoares.bsky.social @arwynedwards.bsky.social @garethfarr.bsky.social & 2 brilliant reviewers!

Sara Rassner@sararassner.bsky.social · last yr.

What do you do when three of your mine water sites are dominated by a pair of cooccurring SOB, while all other sites are dominated by a pair of cooccurring FeOB and the pattern can’t be explained by any of the measured variables? You start digging! doi.org/10.1093/fems...

What do you do when three of your mine water sites are dominated by a pair of cooccurring SOB, while all other sites are dominated by a pair of cooccurring FeOB and the pattern can’t be explained by any of the measured variables? You start digging! doi.org/10.1093/fems...

My printer just decided to print a PDF with all the slides mirrored! 🤯 I didn't even know it could do that and I will probably never find out how it happened. Also, using a dark background on slides you expect people to print out is just not nice.

For those new to Bluesky - you can get hourly #otters in your timeline. Hourly! bsky.app/profile/otte... #PublicServiceAnnouncement

Hourly Otters@otters.hourly.media · 2y ago

I've had 40+ new followers overnight! It's been rather quiet here & I'm hoping we can get back to that fun and useful sharing of science that we once had on Twitter, but I am also going to miss my feed being filled with cute otters from Hourly Otters. It always brought me blissful calm on a busy day