Researchers have identified 173 previously unknown bacterial and archaeal strains with the potential to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere—a breakthrough that could open new frontiers in climate solutions.

The discovery emerged from an ambitious mining project at Japan's RIKEN BioResource Research Center, where scientists combed through the genomes of thousands of preserved microorganisms. While millions of microbial species exist on Earth, remarkably little is known about most of them. By unlocking this hidden biological diversity, researchers have found organisms that may naturally excel at CO2 fixation—essentially converting greenhouse gases into useful compounds. Read the full story →

Today's takeaway: Nature's microbial toolkit is far larger than we realized, and it might just hold some of the keys to addressing climate change.