Your kitchen sponge is a better incubator for diverse bacterial communities than a laboratory Petri dish, researchers report. It’s not just the trapped leftovers that make the cornucopia of microbes swarming around so happy and productive, it’s the structure of the sponge itself. In a series of experiments, researchers show how various microbial species can affect one another’s population dynamics depending on factors of their structural environment such as complexity and size. Some bacteria thrive in a diverse community while others prefer a solitary existence. And a physical environment that allows both kinds to live their best lives leads to the strongest levels of biodiversity. Soil provides this sort of optimal mixed-housing environment, and so does your kitchen sponge. These different species of bacteria—each engineered to glow a different color so researchers can track their growth—are thriving in harmony with one another thanks to their structured environment. (Credit: Andrea Weiss, Zach Holmes, …