There is no definite answer as to why cats purr. Most scientists believe that the larynx (voice box), laryngeal muscles, and a neural oscillator are involved. Kittens learn how to purr when they are a couple of days old and veterinarians think that this purring tells the mother cat that it is ok. As cats…
Why do you get wrinkly hands after you swim?
Your fingers and toes get wrinkly because the dead cells in your skin (in the outermost layer, the epidermis) called keratin cells absorb water and swell, temporarily increasing the surface area of your skin. The living cells, beneath the dead cells do not swell.
Mushrooms and New Species
Mushrooms and fungi are more closely related to animals than they are plants and have some unique DNA sequences. Psathyrella aquatica, a gilled mushroom that grows under water in the upper Rouge River of Southern Oregon, is a genetically unique species in which little is known about its reproduction. Most gilled mushrooms reproduce by producing…
Spin Ice
Monopoles, magnetic forces without a di-pole have been shown to exist in a substance called spin ice. Spin ice is composed of holmium titanate, molecules that have a tetrahedral formation. When corralled, the ions cannot align their spin in one direction leaving the two spins pointing inwards in the tetrahedron. When a magnetic field is…
Vesalius
Andreas Vesalius was a Belgian anatomist born in 1514. He worked with cadavers from graveyards or gallows to correct errors in the study of anatomy and created many artistic, yet accurate renderings of the human form. His work was considered to be groundbreaking as he corrected many of Galen’s errors and followed in the footsteps…
Evolution
People used to think that the universe was neatly laid out by God exactly the way it was destined to be laid out. The stars were crystal spheres pushed around in the heavens by angels and everyone found it to be comforting to think of the universe as such an ordered place. However, all of…
THE HUMAN GENOME MUSIC PROJECT
This project assigns musical pitches to each of the 22 amino acid codons in DNA. This is an example of what the first chromosome looks like.
Gecko Feet
I have always liked geckos. They are fascinating creatures that have inspired people for ages. There are even old myths that say, if you see a gecko, it means that you are safe and someone is watching over you. Today, people are asking different questions about geckos. One of the most obvious ones is, how…
Bacteria Has Harnessed Frozen Water As Weapon
A bacteria called Pseudomonas syringae has the ability to use proteins in their outer membranes to help ice crystals form at warmer than normal temperatures which they, then, use to form frost and invade damaged plant tissue. After these bacteria die, many of these proteins move into the atmosphere where they can alter the weather…
Long-Leaf Pine Savannah
I once went on an Ecology trip to a long-leaf pine savannah in. The long-leaf pine savannah is a common ecosystem to south-east Louisiana. It is a fire-dominated ecosystem (it depends on small grass fires ignited by lightning to survive) that has been logged, farmed, and damaged almost to where it has been driven to…
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