It’s not a surprise that the apiary field, and honey, has a pretty decent economic impact. After all, without bees to pollinate many foods, we’d be in terrible shape. That’s why when the bees started to decline, the CDC opened a dialogue between a variety of academic fields to get a full scope on what …
Category: Biology
All of our blog topics in biology and their related topics from the foundation to applied biology concepts and ideas.
Bradford Pear: A Lesson in Toying with Invasive Species
Today, we know that introducing a foreign species into a habitat, no matter how benign it seems to be, is a really bad idea. The Bradford pear is one prime example of this. The small and decorative tree was a staple of the thousands of new subdivisions that sprung up across the country between the …
More Younger People are Being Diagnosed with Dementia
Many people associate dementia — the degenerative brain disease that causes memory loss, confusion and speech problems — with the elderly. However, the fact of the matter is that the disease does not discriminate according to age. This is at least what doctors are seeing in the UK. According to the Alzheimer’s Society, about 850,000 …
Carlos Finlay: Mosquitoes, Yellow Fever, and a Big Case of “I Told You So”
Pop Quiz – What animal is responsible for the most human deaths every year? If you said “shark” or “alligator” or “snake”, you would be wrong. Sure, these animals are dangerous, but they actually result in very few human deaths each year. The animal that poses the biggest threat to humans is the mosquito. Mosquitoes …
Lily Pads Know About Surface Tension
A picturesque feature of many ponds is the lily pad. One glance at Monet’s famous paintings and you’ll see that water lilies are beautiful, delicate, and unusual, floating on the surface of the water. Water lilies are unique plants that have adapted to their watery environment and harness the power of surface tension to keep …
The Science of Jumping
For athletes participating in many sports, the ability to jump higher could be the difference between getting a lot of playing time and sitting the bench. Jumping, from a physics standpoint, is more complex than these athletes realize. The action combines energy, inertia, mass, and momentum, with physiological and biomechanical factors. Understanding the science that …
Female Birth Control Goes Digital, Thanks to the FDA
We’ve all heard of the various female contraceptive methods, such as The Pill, but what if the latest form of contraception came in a digital form? This is now the case, thanks to approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Recently, the FDA approved the marketing of a new form of female contraception: an …
Lacking This Biomarker? It Could Be Responsible for Your Depression
There is still little known about what biologically may predispose individuals to depression, but researchers are getting closer to solving the mystery. As of late, scientists have discovered a biomarker that they believe may be an indicator of depression in adults. A new study conducted by Stanford University and The Rockefeller University discovered that people …
Dehydrated? It May Soon Weigh on Your Mental Performance
Are you thirsty? Before you answer yes or no, take a moment to think about how your cognitive abilities have been as of late. Has your mind been feeling sluggish? As it turns out, there may be a link between the two things. Mindy Millard-Stafford, director of the Exercise Physiology Laboratory at Georgia Institute of …
Giant Hogweed: The Invasive Plant that is Causing a Scare
There are several dangerous animals out in the wild, but what about plants? As it turns out, plants can be just as dangerous as some of the other creatures found in Mother Nature, and the Giant Hogweed is proving this very point. According to news reports, the Giant Hogweed is popping up around Virginia, and …