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1500 questions
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Are two eyes necessary for 3D vision?
It has always been my understanding that humans have two eyes so that we can have 3D vision: the left eye sees more of the left side of an object than the right eye and vice versa. This helps us to estimate depth among other things.
Now when I close…
Héctor van den Boorn
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Why are oceans said to have "low productivity" in terms of photosynthesis?
80% of the world's photosynthesis takes place in the ocean. Despite this, oceans are also said to have low productivity - they cover 75% of the earth's surface, but out of the annual 170 billion tonnes of dry weight fixed by photosynthesis, they…
Charles
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Do biological phenomena follow Gaussian statistics?
I have recently entered the life sciences (from physics). I am concerned about the use of p values in the life sciences literature. For example, in this article, they test 9 - 12 rats in a control group and compare it to an experimental group. …
irritable_phd_syndrome
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Why do neurons have only one axon?
I have just learnt about neurons. I wonder why neurons have only one axon. Can they transmit nerve impulses faster and more rapidly when they have more axons? Does having more axons help in coordination?
Could anyone tell me why neurons have only…
lmathl
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Why does mouldy food make you sick?
Bread gets mouldy pretty quickly. My parents (both of whom are nurses) throw out a loaf of bread after a spot of mould is seen (because "if you can see one spot, it means the whole thing is covered in mould spores") because they say you'll get sick…
SolarLunix
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17
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Genetic linkage greater than 50 centimorgans
Classically, the linkage between two loci can be measured in centimorgans (cM), which represents the percent chance that these two loci will recombine an odd number of times (generating a recombinant genotype).
Due to independent assortment, markers…
Superbest
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Are trees the only source of large amounts of oxygen?
Trees use carbon dioxide and produce oxygen in the presence of sunlight.
But is there any other source?
If yes, are trees the most important source of oxygen, or is there any other source which produce more than trees do?
Shashank
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Why do most breast cancers occur in women?
According to Korde et al. (2010):
Male breast cancer accounts for less than 1% of all cancers in men and less than 1% of breast cancers.
This raises the question: Why do most breast cancers occur in women?
Two plausible explanations I can think…
Douglas S. Stones
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17
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Do babies resemble their father?
An often heard theory is that newborns and babies resemble the father more than the mother, a theory apparently ignited by a Nature paper by Christenfeld and Hill (1995). Figure 1 shows one of the tests images. His subjects had to guess which…
AliceD
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What portion of the electromagnetic spectrum do cats see?
I have seen numerous articles and various information about how cats and dogs see into the ultraviolet spectrum with interesting artistic renderings such as this:
http://www.livescience.com/40459-what-do-cats-see.html
But I have been unable to find…
ylluminate
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What did Richard Feynman contribute to molecular biology?
Some time ago, I read James Gleick's "Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman", a wonderful biography of Feynman and, by extension, most of modern physics.
In this book, the author mentions that Feynman spent a year working in a biology lab…
terdon
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17
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6 answers
Could Junk DNA be used as a Turing Machine by nature?
In what ways has DNA been studied to see if there a "programmable" aspect to it?
Has nature produced anything resembling a Turing machine within the cell, perhaps using the "junk DNA" as its code? I expect nature's way would probably be very…
John Smith
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17
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3 answers
Does taking a shower have the same effect on muscles as warming up?
When playing sports, coaches and trainers are always very clear that it is necessary to warm up and stretch. But sometimes athletes sometimes want to get an extra stretch in and don't want to go through the hassle of warming up.
Will taking a hot…
Stan Shunpike
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Contact Inhibition of Cell Division: Signaling Pathway
The following article refers to contact inhibition of cell division in epithelial cells, specifically MDCK cells: Collective and single cell behavior in epithelial contact inhibition.
In their review of the literature, there are a number of possible…
CKM
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Help identifying what this is in Crayfish gills?
this is my first time posting here. I was in my Zoology lab doing a dissection on a Crayfish when I noticed these hairlike structures within the gills. They were very "snappy" and fine, and would break off if I pulled hard enough. I put some on a…
Lyawake
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