What the Cyanobacteria Said
" Belief, overshoot, and the peculiar art of collapsing with dignity " Recently, a teenage engineer, Natalie Muro, built a device to kill harmful algal blooms. She had discovered that hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) kills cyanobacteria, the toxic algae that grows in oxygen-free conditions and tries to recreate those conditions in lakes and rivers. Unfortunately, the chemicals commonly used to fight algal blooms, such as copper sulfate, kill beneficial aquatic life and can poison people, too. Hydrogen peroxide breaks down to form just water and oxygen. The oxygen kills the cyanobacteria. According to Science News , “Her algae-killing gizmo also contains a porous charcoal-like material called biochar. It collects dead microbes. That way, other bacteria can’t dine on their dead brethren for nutrients.” There is a certain grim comedy in the spectacle of Homo sapiens — that precocious, tool-wielding primate — congratulating itself on having defeated cyanobacteria, an org...
