A block of Tomme de Savoie cheese ages with a sweater of Mucor lanceolatus fungal mold. Mucor itself doesn't have a strong taste, but more flavorful bacteria can travel far and wide along its hyphae â the microscopic, branched tendrils that fungi use to bring in nutrients. Benjamin Wolfe/Benjamin Wolfe hide caption
Microorganisms play a vital role in growing food and sustaining the planet, but they do it anonymously. Scientists haven't identified most soil microbes, but they are learning which are most common. PeopleImages/Getty Images hide caption
Sour beer has allowed microbiologists an opportunity to find new microbes with applications that could extend beyond simply beer. Matt Bochman, Indiana University hide caption
When a single raindrop hits the ground, it causes tiny water droplets to shoot into the air, some containing bacteria. Joung et al. Nature Communications hide caption
Tubes of hematite, an iron-rich mineral, might be evidence of microbial life that lived around underwater vents billions of years ago. Matthew Dodd/University College London hide caption
A Short History Of Humans And Germs Xaver Xylophon for NPR hide caption
Pam Marrone (right), founder and CEO of Marrone Bio Innovations, inspects some colonies of microbes. Marrone has spent most of her professional life prospecting for microbial pesticides and bringing them to market. Dan Charles/NPR hide caption
Plankton collected in the Pacific Ocean with a 0.1mm mesh net. Seen here is a mix of multicellular organisms — small zooplanktonic animals, larvae and single protists (diatoms, dinoflagellates, radiolarians) — the nearly invisible universe at the bottom of the marine food chain. Christian Sardet/CNRS/Tara Expeditions hide caption
The bacteria in the soap are usually less of a problem than the bacteria on your hands. iStockphoto hide caption
The Original Grape-Nuts, which now bear a non-GMO label, no longer contain vitamins A, D, B-12 and B-2. Claire Eggers/NPR hide caption
Mattheos Koffas (left), a biochemical engineer at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Andrew Jones, a graduate student in his lab, with a flask of microbe-produced antioxidants. Dan Charles/NPR hide caption
Many artisan cheese producers never pasteurize their milk – it's raw. The milk's natural microbial community is still in there. This microbial festival gives cheese variety and intrigues scientists. iStockphoto hide caption
The Bronx may be up and the Battery down, but Central Park is where an amazing wealth of different sorts of microbes play. iStockphoto hide caption