Soils are the world’s most pervasive ecosystems, and arguably its most complex and important. They’re home to more than half the planet’s species. But they’re also one of the ecosystems we know the le

HAVE you ever taken a close look at your soil? I mean, a really close look? And if not, why not? Soil, compost, dirt, earth – whatever you want to call it, it’s often overlooked, and yet it’s one of t

Professor Buczacki is a borticultural expert, weiter and former chair of Gardeners Question Time

Johnny Drain Adventures in Fermentation From ancient origins to culinary frontiers, an exploration of the microbes that shape the world we live in 320pp. Penguin Life. £20. Tim Spector Ferment The lif

When she died in 2024, Spain’s Maria Branyas was the world’s oldest woman. She was 117. Experts believe the secret to her longevity may have been the bacteria living in her gut – her microbiome – and

Whether mutually beneficial or a parasitic nuisance, Nature’s symbiotic relationships are as multifarious as they are marvellous, says John Lewis-Stempel