Bacteria get a fresh gig as art restorers in Italy

-
A marble sculpture of a nude bearded man reclining
An image of Michalangelo’s The Day, part of the tomb of Giuliano de’ Medici. This image was taken in 2002, long before bacteria got a chance to feast on its grime. | Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images

Michelangelo’s marbles in the Medici Chapel were looking dingy, so a team of art restorers decided to smear some bacteria on the situation. The specialized microbes cleaned up centuries of grime, leaving the marble statues with a fresh new look, The New York Times reports.

The team selected specialized strains of bacteria to target different stains on the marble. Some types of bacteria can thrive in harsh environments and are adapted to eating things that can cause humans problems. These bacteria can break down things like pollutants into relatively harmless components.

In this case, the team looked for bacterial strains that would eat away at the stains and other gunk, without harming the marble itself, and tested their top choices on...

Continue reading…



source https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/31/22461712/bacteria-art-restoration-michelangelo-marble-medici

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In a world first, China lands a spacecraft gently on the Moon’s far side

-
Image
This evening, China became the first nation to land a spacecraft gently on the far side of the Moon, according to China Global Television Network America . A Chinese robotic lander and rover, which launched from China in early December, descended into a crater on the side of the Moon that’s always facing away from Earth. The touchdown marks a significant technological feat for the country, and puts China in an elite category of spaceflight achievement all its own. The landing is part of China’s Chang’e-4 mission — one of a series of planned missions to explore the lunar surface. Prior to this program, China sent a lander and a rover to the Moon, making it the third country to ever softly land on the lunar surface. That lander, part of the... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/2/18165807/china-change-4-mission-lunar-lander-rover-moon-farside
Read more

Snap suspends two anonymous messaging apps after cyberbullying lawsuit

-
Image
Images from Yolo’s now-removed App Store listing. | Image: Yolo Technologies Snap will suspend two anonymous messaging integrations from Snapchat after a lawsuit sought to hold them responsible for a teenager’s death, the Los Angeles Times reports . The lawsuit was filed on Monday by Kristin Bride, the mother of a teenager who died by suicide in June after being bullied on the two apps. “In light of the serious allegations raised by the lawsuit, and out of an abundance of caution for the safety of the Snapchat community, we are suspending both Yolo and LMK’s Snap Kit integrations while we investigate these claims,” a spokesperson for Snap said in a statement. Representatives for the two apps, Yolo and LMK, did not immediately respond to The Verge ’s request for comment. “We are suspending both Yolo and LMK’s Snap... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/12/22431883/snap-inc-snapchat-anonymous-messaging-qa-lawsuit-teenager-death
Read more