This is indeed shocking. The study found that bacteria grow above the tiny particles of natural magnets. These bacteria are a mixed community that can "swallow" and "breathe" electrons from the metal. In recent years, power generation bacteria has become a hot topic. Scientists have found that some bacteria found on the seabed and river bed all over the world can get electrons from tiny metal particles. By "donating" electrons to bacteria, iron particles become an effective source of energy for cells. Other kinds of bacteria effectively breathe electrons by "throwing" excess electrons onto the metal particles. Magnetite crystals work like rechargeable batteries. Today, James Byrne from the University of Tubingen in Germany and colleagues found that a common magnetic mineral, tiny magnetite grains, act both as electron acceptors and as electron donors, working effectively like a battery . He grew a community of bacteria belonging to the genus Bacillus and Rhodopseudomonas to grow on top of the magnet and found that the genus Geobacter could "throw" electrons onto the crystal, whereas Rhodopseudomonas would take the electrons from the crystal. Byrne said that in the natural environment, these two reactions may occur in the cycle or ebb tide period, each bacteria are active at different times in this cycle. At the same time, he said, magnetite crystals act like natural rechargeable batteries for bacterial communities: charging from the genus Geobacter and consuming Rhodococcus. Lars Peter Nielsen from the University of Aarhus in Denmark said the finding was exciting and provided complete information about the multi-role magnet as a mineral in Earth's microbiology. According to the different needs of bacteria, the magnet can be used as a conductor, it can also be an electronic "storage box" and source.