Special glowing microbes can help researchers clean up toxic soil

Coal miners used to take canaries down in the pits with them to detect dangerous amounts of carbon dioxide. If the canary kicked the bucket, the miner got the message. Now British scientists are working on a similar way to detect pollution. Researchers at the University of Aberdeen have developed microorganisms, or "bugs" that glow when all is well, but fade as they encounter toxic chemicals in the ground.

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