mindmap root((MICRO)) microbe An organism （such as a bacterium） of microscopic or less than microscopic size.
🌱Vaccines reduce the risk of diseases by using dead or greatly weakened microbes to stimulate the immune system. 🌳A hint of the Greek word bios, meaning "life," can be seen in microbe. Microbes, or microorganisms, include bacteria, protozoa, fungi, algae, amoebas, and slime molds. Many people think of microbes as simply the causes of disease, but every human is actually the host to billions of microbes, and most of them are essential to our life. Much research is now going into possible microbial sources of future energy; algae looks particularly promising, as do certain newly discovered or created microbes that can produce cellulose, to be turned into ethanol and other biofuels. microbiologist A scientist who studies extremely small forms of life, such as bacteria and viruses.
🌱Food microbiologists study the tiny organisms that cause spoiling and foodborne illness. 🌳Since microorganisms are involved in almost every aspect of life on earth, microbiologists work across a broad range of subject areas. Some study only viruses, some only bacteria. A marine microbiologist studies the roles of microbial communities in the sea. A soil microbiologist might focus on the use and spread of nitrogen. Veterinary microbiologists might research bacteria that attack racehorses or diagnose anthrax in cows. And the government puts microbiologists to work studying whether microbes could adapt to life on the surface of Mars, and how to defend ourselves against the possibility of germ warfare. microbrew A beer made by a brewery that makes beer in small amounts.
🌱As a city of 75,000 people with eight breweries, it offers a greater variety of microbrews per capita than any other place in America. 🌳Microbrews are usually beers or ales made with special malts and hops, unfiltered and unpasteurized, and thus distinctive in their aroma and flavor. Many microbreweries double as bar/restaurants, called brewpubs, where the gleaming vats may be visible behind a glass partition. "Craft brewing" and the opening of local brewpubs began in earnest in the U.S. in the 1980s. But not everyone is willing to pay extra for a beer, and lots of people are simply used to the blander taste of the best-selling beers, so by 2008 microbrews still only accounted for about 4% of all beer sold in the U.S. microclimate The essentially uniform local climate of a small site or habitat.
🌱Temperature, light, wind speed, and moisture are the essential components of a microclimate. 🌳The microclimate of an industrial park may be quite different from that of a nearby wooded park, since the plants absorb light and heat while asphalt parking lots and rooftops radiate them back into the air. A microclimate can offer a small growing area for crops that wouldn't do well in the wider region, so skilled gardeners take advantage of microclimates by carefully choosing and positioning their plants. San Francisco's hills, oceanfront, and bay shore, along with its alternating areas of concrete and greenery, make it a city of microclimates.