Bacteria's Secret Communication with Fatima AlZahra'a Alatraktchi

Expand your knowledge of the fascinating world of bacteria through a lecture by researcher and author Fatima AlZahra'a Alatraktchi. She spends her career listening to how bacteria communicate with each other — a sound most people never hear.

The lecture explores the paradox that such tiny organisms can be lethal to humans, while at the same time living in complex societies with their own rules and survival strategies. Alatraktchi helps us ask bacteria the questions that humans have pondered across generations: Is it worth cheating? What happens when a society becomes passive? What does life mean? Her groundbreaking research and TED talk (viewed by over 2 million people worldwide) show how the world under the microscope can give us new insights into community, cooperation, and existence.

Fatima AlZahra'a Alatraktchi is a lecturer at Roskilde University and has received several international awards for her research, including the Lundbeck Foundation Talent Prize and the L'Oréal-UNESCO Prize for Science. In 2024, she was named by Berlingske as one of Denmark's 100 greatest talents. The event is part of Copenhagen Libraries' festival "Wild about Science" (October–November).