News From the Field
Predatory Bacterial Crowdsourcing

September 27, 2012

Scientists at Rice University and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Medical School have discovered the mechanism that allows one of the world's smallest predators--the soil bacteria Myxococcus xanthus--to form collective waves that spread and engulf bacterial prey. The study, featured on the cover of this month's PLOS Computational Biology, finds that the same mechanism helps M. xanthus spread quickly and stay atop prey until it is devoured. Full Story

Source
Rice University

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, its budget is $7.0 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives over 50,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 11,000 new funding awards. NSF also awards nearly $420 million in professional and service contracts yearly.

 Get News Updates by Email 

Useful NSF Web Sites:
NSF Home Page: http://www.nsf.gov
NSF News: http://www.nsf.gov/news/
For the News Media: http://www.nsf.gov/news/newsroom.jsp
Science and Engineering Statistics: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/
Awards Searches: http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/