Soil bacteria and minerals can form a natural 'battery' that breaks down antibiotics in the dark

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Researchers have unveiled a surprising new way that soil microbes can use sunlight energy—even after the lights go out. A team from Kunming University of Science and Technology and the University of Massachusetts Amherst has developed a "bio-photovoltage soil-microbe battery" that can capture, store, and release solar energy to power the breakdown of antibiotic pollutants in the dark.