Biology

I thought I'd share this cool little experiment with you. Get some termites. enclose them in an area and draw a line with a ball point pen (blue or black) and the termites follow the pen line. I think there are pheremones in the pen ink that is a sexual stimulant for the termite. It's pretty cool to see the termites following a pen mark.

After reading http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_365484.html I was just wondering whether it would be possible to create a pill that could make someone's skin paler. Theoretically would it be possible? http://members.fortunecity.com/ku20/oldindex.html

I remember practicing golf (it sucked though ), and the just recently cut green was full of ladybugs (or ladybirds, if you insist), and you could see more coming from the taller grass. What causes this kind of behavior? Were they looking for something?

Might be a weird question to any die hard biologist, but I was recently wondering why an apple grows the way an apple grows. I also thought of a different fruit similar to that of an appel (anatomically) and thought of a pear. And again my previous question arose in my little head as to why a pear grows the way a pear grows. Can anyone elaborate?? or any fruit for that matter

What's the term for the process of bacteria decomposing organic matter into nitrogenous compounds? Decomposition or Resipiration?

Hey all, I'm in grade 12 and looking into college programs, here's the two i came up with: biological technician and food and drug technician. I am currently set up to take the college route (3 year program) then get credited for 2 of 3 years at a university program, which i will then complete. I was wondering if you guys had any ideas on which college would be best for this. I live in Ontario, Canada so an Ontario college would be preferred, but it must definately be in Canada. The two i was looking at were loyalist and durham college, i checked out mohawk, centennial and some other one, but their programs didn't seem to be what i am interested in. If you guys have …

I'm having terrible time on the pedigree. I did amazingly well on the Punnett square but I just don't understand the pedigree well. Here, help me out here. I inserted a image as an example. Problem: If we're given that the trait we're dealing with is eye color, then determine whether the trait is dominant or recessive. In my opinion, the trait is recessive because if it was dominant, more "shading" should've occurred. But my biology teacher said that appearing a lot doesn't necessarily means the trait is dominant. One of my classmate had a right answer for it but I don't quite understand it. I can't belive I'm confusing on this simple looking pedig…

I've seen movies of individual cells and such moving about with their little cilia or fimbria and such, and I've always wondered how they actually do it. Same with muscle cells. I mean, they are just some bags of protein with water inside! What actually causes those proteins to move? To me it's the same as supposing that the molecules in some chemistry experiment are going to start swimming around!

I'm doing a study on ants and the pheromones and i need help on the structure of it.(ie:alkenes,proteins,hormones and such) Can anybody help me?I have to get attention this way since nobody is answering by post.

In nitrogen circle, nitrogen-fixing bacteria convert nitrogen into nitrogen compound but not nitrate and can be absorbed by plant,why? Isn't plant only able to absorb nitrate ions?

Last time I checked, embryonic and adult stem cells were able to continuously divide independent of a telomerase enzyme. But also last time I checked uncontrolled cell growth is also one of the six immunities that cancerous cells have, what is it that allows them to continuously divide independently and not turn cancerous when injected into foreign tissues?

As mankind gets set to venture to future worlds in the next century or so I was wondering if biologists are preparing for what life, if any they may find. First, is there a name already coined for alien biology or should there be a contest to come up with one? Are there plans already in place or is there ongoing discussion about what to expect? What type of precautionary measures have been discussed if any? Where will possible alien life be studied? Seems to me that some kind of strategy is definitely necessary.

Hi, Can someone help me and explain why cells become less efficient as size increases. I know the SA:Volume decreases as it grows but what does that mean exactly.

Hi ime a newbie and dont know much about biology,anyway heres my question.Does the brain have a saturation point where its pretty much impossible to learn anything else?It must follow the same rules as any other machine/computer albeit much more complicated.

I've started this thread for exactly what the title says. If someone can explain to me how our brain determines which dreams to have then please by all means do it. When I say 'which dreams to have' I mean I know that our everday lives determine what we dream and that our dreams are usually about something that is of concern to us, but how does our brain decide which areas of our life are most important or which areas of our life that we are having struggles or problems in and then make a dream about that particular problem or situation to try to arouse our conscience mind or brain to do something about it? Or to simply change. I have no clue. That's why I'm asking. …

Hello: I would like to inform the reader that a new sub-species of elephant has been discovered. As you already may know there were two species of elephant. The african elephant with large ears and the asian elephant with somewhat smaller ears than the former. Through recent DNA tests it has been proven that there are two sub-species of Asian elephant. Some elephants live in the woodland and shrub bordering the deserts. And there are the other Asian elephants than live in the desert. I though that you, the reader would be interested in such a find. John McAvoy

Hello. I juz signed up, and hope im posting this in the right place. Now, a lot is riding on this bet of mine. I need someone who knows the answer for sure. What animal is smarter, a rabbit or a dog? Common sence would tell you that a dog, but In my rabbit book I read that rabbits are just as smart as dolphins, which r smart - and that rabbits can learn their names, commands, tricks ect just live dogs. And one rabbit even served as a guard for a nightclub in the US. Anyway, can someone people tellme the correct answer?

I have come across certain simple questions in my MCQ past papers whose answers I am not really very sure of... so here it goes: 1) if there were 34 amino acids and DNA only contained two types of nitrogenous bases, what would be the minimum number of bases per codon that could code for proteins? 2) what single feature is correct for all enzymes? 3) A capillary tube is inserted into the phloem. what force/pressure causes the sap to flow out of the tube? 4) what proportion (in %) of the stored chemical energy in grass is converted into new tissue by a growing cow? ask me for the options if you need'em. -mak10

if anyone here is a zoologist and can help me out for my school career project.... here is a list of 10 questions i need answered please send the response to my e-mail address as i will most likely not check back here in time (princrissy7@hotmail.com) u can put zooligist interview as the subject, it would be greatly appreciated, thanks 1. What field did you expect and prepare to enter originally? 2. What preparation is necessary to become a Zoologist? 3. What do you do during a typical work day? 4. What are the greatest rewards and toughest demands of your job? 5. What is the employment outlook for a Zoologist? 6. What …

Normally i don't have any questions about science but this one struck me. My teacher said all cells come from other cells (Cell Theory) so i asked myself. Today we learnt about Mitosis, the dividing of cells to form new cells. In the Metaphase Double Stranded Chromosomes line up on the Spindle Finders and are seperated into one One Stranded Chromosomes by the time the cell divides into two (Telophase). Now how does the two cells continue diving if the Chromosomes are not double stranded? Do they regenerate a new strand for the next dividing, or what?

Just very simple... In blood, which component transports the hormones?? red blood cells, or the plasma?? Albert

I know that a hormone is a chemical substance transported in the body via the bloodstream. If we compare the hormone to enzymes, we know what enzymes are made up of, and that they do not alter in a chemical reactiona and can only be destroyed by heat or ph. SO, my question is what exactly do you define "chemical substance" and do hormones get destroyed or do like "die"? Plus, is there any specific structures that a hormone holds?

Hi all, I think all of us has heard of Dolly lamb, & of the way by which it's come to life, which is having a somatic cell (which can reproduce itself givin' only the same kind of cells) from the breast of the mother animal, & then turnin' it somehow into an unspecialized cell, which can reproduce givin' a whole body of an organism.. The method the scientists used to turn the somatic cell into an unspecialized cell is by segregatin' the somatic cell, & preventin' it from havin' any nutrients, then the DNA code can have itself rearranged, & that what gets the code, which make the cell specialised, solved. (that's dependin' on what I can remember) What…

How do carbon dioxide and oxygen diffuse into a leaf? My book said that they first dissolve into a layer of water then diffuses into the cell membrane. Why don't they just move into the cell ? And is active transport only for those molecules which can pass through the cell membrane?

How does yeast produce alchohol?