As a society we are obsessed with numbers. There are have phone numbers, social security numbers, number for our house, license plate number and age among others. These numbers all give us a place to measure from. It is the same in the biological sciences. Biologists need to know where something is before they can tell where it is going. All science is based on having a starting point to measure from. Read the rest of this entry »
Mar
6
With the weather turning cold off and on maybe it’s time to check the antifreeze in your car. Antifreeze is used in our vehicles to keep the engine blocks from cracking when the old worn out coolant freezes. This is the same thing that happens to cells in a living organism. Freezing water in a cell expands and ruptures the cellular membrane letting everything leak out. If you don’t think this happens, put a tomato in your freezer overnight and take it out the next morning to thaw. Make sure you put it in a bowl or you will have a mess on your floor. Well, if this happens to plants how do fish survive in temperatures cold enough to freeze saltwater? Read the rest of this entry »
Mar
3
For those of us who were not on the football team and for whom the cheerleaders made an art form out of pretending that we did not exist, there is justice and payback – at least in biological world anyhow. In most mammals and birds it is the big, loud, tough or best-feathered male that get the girls. The North American elk is one good example of this traditional selection process. When fall rolls around it is the mating season and the mountains echo with the bellowing of bulls seeking to attract females. The males will fight each other and the stronger will drive the weaker off until only the strongest are left to take care of the available females. Darwinian thought sees this as a part of the natural selection process that allows only the ˜fittest” genes to be passed along to the next generation. Read the rest of this entry »