Scientists synthesise sound of single bacterium swimming – full story.  Some mean machine!

Dr Ashley Nord and Dr Matt Baker synthesised the sound of this whirring propeller when they attached microscopic polystyrene beads to the flagella of bacteria as part of their research into what makes them spin.

The sound you can hear is perhaps more like an alien message or a windy day at the South Pole than a classic motor sound, and it fades as the bacterium dies.