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Cheat like a pro
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Here's a fun way to cheat on your next biochemistry exam
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2863 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
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3871 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
New bat species discovered
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This striped bat is only the fifth of its kind to be collected, and is so unique, it warranted the creation of a new genus.
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2776 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
Dwarf planets
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Not much of a believer in dwarf planets, but here's a cool schematic of some. In 2006 the organization responsible for classifying celestial bodies, the International Astronomical Union, decided that a new class of objects was needed. The solar system's erratic ninth planet, Pluto, was assigned to the new “dwarf planet” category along with four other bodies, all tinier than Earth’s moon. Some astronomers expect there may be as many as 50 dwarf planets in the solar system. Eris, the largest dwarf planet, is only slightly bigger than Pluto, at 1,445 miles in diameter (2,326 km). Discovered in 2003, Eris orbits at an average distance of 68 AU (that is, 68 times the Earth’s distance from the sun) and takes 561.4 Earth years to circle the sun. E ...
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3352 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
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3246 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
The flipping ship
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The FLIP ( FLoating Instrument Platform) ship is an open ocean research vessel designed to partially flood and pitch backward 90 degrees, resulting in only the front 55 feet (17 metres out of 108 metres) of the vessel pointing up out of the water, with bulkheads becoming decks. When flipped, most of the buoyancy for the platform is provided by water at depths below the influence of surface waves, hence FLIP is a stable platform mostly immune to wave action. At the end of a mission, compressed air is pumped into the ballast tanks in the flooded section and the vessel returns to its horizontal position so it can be towed to a new location. ...
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3752 |
bio_man |
11 years ago |
What happens when chemicals build up or don't break down?
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Are humans really at the top? Yes. We are the top of the food chain (unless we are eaten by a shark!), but is it always beneficial to be at the top of the food chain? Usually food chemicals that we eat are used by our bodies and any waste is exhaled, defecated and urinated out of us. However, some chemicals such as heavy metals like lead and mercury can't be expelled from plants and animals so they build up in the plant and animal bodies. This is called biomagnification (biological magnification) because the amounts can accumulate more and more in animals further along the food chain till they reach a toxic level. In human-made environments, radio-active chemicals such as uranium are a problem because the time they take to break down (half-l ...
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2649 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
How Far Can Biotechnology Take Us?
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Throughout conservations on a daily basis, I often get asked ‘Will there ever be a cure for…?’ or ‘Do you think there will ever be…?’ and those questions are quite a stumbling block. Having discussed various aspects of current biochemical and biotechnical research of late I suppose it has prompted me to ask a similar question myself. The question being, how far can biotechnology take us? How much can we cure, eradicate or produce through further research in the biosciences? It’s a stimulating question and one that is impossible to answer definitively. We never know what exactly lies around the corner, but we can extrapolate on from current trends and ideas. Obviously, the areas of gene therapy, synthetic biology and pharmacoge ...
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3417 |
Chapman333 |
11 years ago |
My phone is nearly six months old, I think I need an upgrade
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Mobile phones contain a metal extracted from an ore called columbite-tantalite (or Coltan). Vast areas of African gorilla habitats are destroyed every year as we buy more and more mobile phones. Watch these two videos. The first video is about the people of Congo The second video is about the gorillas of Congo. Which evokes more emotion in you? ...
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2694 |
bio_man |
11 years ago |
How to make meat in a lab
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The biomass pyramid above shows how a large amount of plant matter is eaten by many small animals which are in turn eaten by fewer numbers of large animals. At each step of the biomass pyramid, matter and energy are lost in the form of energy to keep the animal warm and moving, or as faeces and urine. Therefore, the more steps there are in a biomass pyramid, the more loss of matter and energy that occurs. Humans are usually at the top of the Food Chain or biomass pyramid (unless we are eaten by sharks, lions or bears!). Also, there is often a significant loss of matter and energy at each step that can be avoided. Does that mean that we should all become vegetarians? No. However, we can eat more vegetables and less meat. Food security is an im ...
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3219 |
bio_man |
11 years ago |
A hybrid dolphin whale
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The wolphin is the extraordinary result of breeding a female bottle-nosed dolphin with a male false killer whale. In captivity there are two occurrences, both are in the Sea Life Park in Hawaii. Unlike other hybrids, the wolphin is fertile.
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5696 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
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3147 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
Geep!
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A goat-sheep chimera also known as a geep all over the world is normally produced by the fusion of the embryos of both a sheep and a goat. The animal formed by this method thus has cells of not only goat but also of sheep origin. Those parts of the chimera that grow from the embryo of a sheep are woolly. Whereas those that grow from the embryo of a goat turn out to be hairy.
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3932 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
A white-blooded ice fish
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This is a white-blooded ice fish, or "crocodile fish" ( Chaenocephalus aceratus). They lack both red blood cells and hemoglobin, and so have white blood. They have translucent bodies, and absorb oxygen directly from the water around them.
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2659 |
duddy |
11 years ago |