Mark Martin returns to TWiM for a discussion of a predatory bacterium appropriately named Vampirococcus lugosii, and Elio reveals how bacteria can be used on the International Space Station to efficiently extract rare earth elements in microgravity.

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Links for this episode:

• Space Station biomining (Nat Comm)
• Reductive evolution in a predatory bacterium (bioRxiv)

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

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