Biology

What is the best microscope you can get for 250 US Dollars?

They found a bacteria in water 3 km below a South African gold mine. It seems this organism is alone there or nearly so (composing 99.9% of the DNA from the sample), rather than a diverse community as might be expected anywhere else. And apparently, it is powered (indirectly) by the decay of uranium. As such, this is a truly unique bacterium. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desulforudis_audaxviator http://www.theallineed.com/ecology/08102005.htm http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/322/5899/275 This bacteria seems to suggest that life could occur in environments we might never have expected.

Science teaches us that race does not exist There are no genes for race Numerous epistemological difficulties beset the formulation of a systematic taxonomic classification based on human differences. The nonexistence of universal racial essences, or their corresponding nominalist analogues, upon which conventional typological definitions of race are mapped poses a significant challenge to this gargantuan task. Even the usage of racialized labels are subject to numerous ideological constraints, such as the lack of sufficiently contingent, even homogeneous conditions by which they can be both consistently and thoroughly applied. However, the enormous philosoph…

Whether plants, animals or bacteria, life requires Phosphorous (P) in order to carry out cellular work and provide the hook or glue which links the nucleosides of DNA and RNA. Hypothetically speaking, if one were to prepare media will phosphate buffer, it’s not improbable that Phosphate ions might inadvertently be used as a nutrient. Such processes would eventually destroy the buffer's capacity to stabilize pH. Even under conditions of lower pH (acidic), small amounts of PO4 will be present and their absorption/disappearance should be compensated for according to Le Chat's principle. How is this avoided? Are other P sources used? Or are P buffers used in combination …

WARNING extremely graphic video: apparently, in china animals are skinned alive because it's easyer to remove the fur whilst they're alive. now... my initial reaction was that it's barbaric and inhumane... but then i thought, hmm, the dog didn't seem to be writhing in pain that much... certainly not as much as i'd've expected. and it wasn't sedated i don't think because it made a pretty good attempt at biting the skinner half-way through. so, yeah: how much does skinning alive actually hurt? I'd suppose that skinning severs the nerve-endings, which could make the whole process less-painful? but still... (obviously, they could have done the dog a favour and…

i have read a wiki article on this, but i'm looking for further opinions. also, if nasal breathing is superior, why is it?

OK, there are a number of different views on human evolution. This is a theory that is not new but seems quite attractive in terms of the hypothesis that is presented. I would like to stimulate discussion on this topic. Please read the following: (emphasis is mine - jimmy) http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,329958141-117780,00.html

Is there a scientific explanation for this cause? What exactly happens to our body that causes us to act strangely around them, and in some cases tend to avoid them (ie: sit farther away from them in class out of fear). The reason I ask is because around all my friends and their female friends I really have an outgoing personality. But when a girl I'm really attracted to is around/watching/in the conversation I start feeling slightly stiff and I get much, MUCH more quiet than I normally do So why does it happen and what can be done about it? Why do the most outgoing people go through this as well? I don't think the "you just dont wanna look stupid!" answers will s…

when a doctor taps your knee to test your reflex, a signal is sent from the neurons in the knee to the spinal cord; does a signal then go straight back to the knee from the spinal cord; or does it first go from the spinal cord to the brain (to be 'processed') befor a signal goes from the brain to the knee?

ie, is it unlike the muscular system in that it can't move unless pulled and pushed by muscles? also, are there neurons running throughout the bone tissue? and if so, what is their function (assuming that the brain can't send a signal to them to instruct them to move - in the way it can with muscles)?

i'm guessing they go to other cells? but if so, what about the needs of the cell which has just produced the proteins and atp? and why don't the other cells make their own protein and atp? it seems inefficient, no?

I've seen elsewhere on this forum the standard accounts of bioelectricity and the nature of the nerve impulse. I ask you then to consider a different account, one that is concordant with physics, and which debunks the standard account. In doing so it hints at the tremendous potential of the use of electrochemistry to advance longevity and treat debilitation from traumatic nervous injury. The idea prevails that physics is inadequate at describing the complexity of life emergent from chemistry, and that it must be supplemented by biophysics. Even physicist Erwin Schrodinger, in his 1947 What is Life?, hypothesized there may yet be undiscovered laws of physics to expl…

It was found that one ocular micrometer equaled 0.025 mm at 100X power. If the wing of a fruit fly was measured to be 80 ocular micrometer units at a magnification of 100X, what is the length of the wing in mm? I have two answers, but i don't know which is right? 0.025mm x 80um = 2mm or 0.025 mm x 0.08mm = 0.02 mm in this one i converted the 80 ocular micrometer units to millimeters.

According to Newscientist, it may be possible to reduce aging by eating heavier isotopes, such as deuterium and carbon-13. The mechanism is a reduction in free radical damage, as it is harder to break the bonds with heavier isotopes. Also, the isotopes could be incorporated into essential foods that our body cannot synthesize, which would ensure that they are used by the body. A warning: having 20% deuterium or more in your body is bad for you, and 35% deuterium can kill. However, it seems that small quantities are safe, and in some tests increased lifespan of fruit flies. Also, it seems babies are born with an unusually high proportion of heavier isotopes.

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ive noticed the less hours i sleep the wayy less i seem to remember so i am sure it does have an effect.. i just am wondering the biological explanation

Hi all, I am new here to these forums. Mosquitoes can lay their egg anywhere(floor,wall,clothes,etc.,). My question is will all these eggs hatch or do they need water for hatching? Thanks in advance.

I've been trying to find what AKT stand for in the AKT signalling pathway. I know what the pathway is and what it does....but for the life of me I can not find what akt stand for. I have searched the whole of google and pubmed. Any ideas?

some people believe that humans are the end of the evolutionary chain, as we have not changed in thousands of years, but humans have been evolving with the world more drastically than people know, instead of us sprouting wings because the air is easier to breathe higher up we adapt and create a way to breathe down here... so i have but one question, who thinks that instead of us waiting to evolve, we should be creating ways to evolve for ourselves,maybe we haven't reached the end of the chain, maybe we have the power and skill to control evolution....

what is a flies exoskeleton made of? and how would be the best way to puncture/damage it?

I have got to produce 2 scientific posters, 1 for a course at uni im doing, and another at the BPS winter meeting (based on research i did during my summer, in between years 1 + 2) i am struggerling to design my posters, and what to put in them, How much detail do i need to go into? colour schemes/poster design etc How many diagrams should i include? Thanks in advance

Can anyone tell what is entomology? Its study of insects or fossils. In human beings, what is the function of villa in stomach? In human beings, what is the function of villa in stomach?

Well, this question could refer to any cell type in the body, but blood provides the easiest example. In red blood cell production, erythropoiesis, if the source of this production (certain bone marrow from what I gather) was replaced with a cell with a different genes (either genetically modified cells or cells from a different organism), would the new blood cells' DNA eventually come to be the most common in the body? If so, what long-term effects would this have on the organism?

What might be the potential applications for a prism that when manipulated properly, allows you to view transparent objects, such as bacteria and things like changes in heat differentials? I am looking for any ideas. They can be totally crazy. I am just brainstorming.

I dont understand why the cellular respiration equation states 36-38ATP near the end. i know it stands for energy however i dont know what type...?