Group items tagged

In the closing sentence of "The Origin of Species," Charles Darwin marvels at the process of evolution, observing how "from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved." Few people would describe bedbugs as most beautiful or most wonderful. Yet this blood-feeding pest may represent an exceptional chance to observe the emergence of Darwin's "endless forms": New research indicates that some bedbugs are well on their way to becoming a new species.

Comprehensive list of CDC accessible data

Ever wonder how your brain processes information? These brain tricks and illusions help to demonstrate the two main systems of Fast and Slow Thinking in your brain.

A deadly disease known as African sleeping sickness has puzzled doctors for decades. It would disappear from villages without a trace, only to re-emerge weeks or months later with no known cause. Frustrated health officials wondered how sleeping sickness could persist when not a single villager or animal-the disease's only carriers-tested positive for the insect-borne parasite that causes it. Now, scientists may have an answer at last: They've discovered the disease was hiding in plain sight this whole time, living in and even transmitting via human skin.

Even if you feel like you have a pretty good hold on what deoxyribonucleic acid is and how it works, you will still appreciate this video. It might not add greatly to your depth of understanding, but it will please your eyes, tickle your brain, and remind you about the many wonders of the double helix.

"A short 3.6 minute visually stunning introductory trailer choreographed to powerful music that introduces the viewer/student to the characteristics that all life on Earth shares. I made this for use by teachers of Biology and the Life Sciences as a motivational introduction to the wonders of life and the amazing characteristics that we all possess. As a High School Biology teacher myself, I have found these videos a great way to capture student interest immediately."

Have you ever wondered how lightning bugs glow? 3:30 video

Have you ever wondered why people look the way they do? Why our hands and feet have five digits instead of six? Why we stand on two legs instead of four? It took 350 million years of evolution to produce the amazing machine we call the human body and in Your Inner Fish, a three-part series based on the best-selling book of the same name, author and evolutionary biologist Dr. Neil Shubin looks into the past to answer these and other questions.

Emerging diseases and potential pandemics make the news nearly every year. Students (and everyone else) may wonder where new infectious diseases come from, how scientists assess the risk of a pandemic, and how we might go about preventing one. This case study uses a PowerPoint presentation to explore these questions by focusing on HIV, a pandemic that began as an emerging disease. The storyline progresses backwards through time as scientists attempt to unravel the origins of a new, mysterious plague. Much of the case relies on audio excerpts from an episode produced by Radiolab, an acclaimed radio show that explores a variety of topics in science and culture (www. radiolab.org). Students use graphics, animations, and sound clips presented in the PowerPoint slides to discuss several sets of questions. The case is suitable for a wide range of high school and college introductory biology courses, as well as undergraduate microbiology, ethics, and public health courses.

9:14 video Have you ever wondered how life first got started on Earth? So do scientists! Though the question has not yet been fully answered, a careful study of Chemical Evolution is beginning to shed light on this mystery. In this film you will learn what Chemical Evolution is, how it works, and how it is different from Biological Evolution.

8:38 video Ever wonder why we still haven't cured cancer? Join SciShow as we discuss what's wrong with that question and why it's so hard to find a cure.

4:01 video Ever wonder what it looks like from a birds-eye-view? Hank explains they see more than you think!

3:40 This visually stunning introductory trailer choreographed to powerful music introduces the viewer to the characteristics that all life on Earth shares. It is designed for use by teachers of Biology and the Life Sciences as a motivational introduction to the wonders of life and the amazing characteristics that we all possess. 

But when Sokol did a comparative DNA analysis of diseased sections of intestine surgically removed from the patients, he observed a relative depletion of just one common bacterium, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii. Rather than "bad" microbes prompting disease, he wondered, could a single "good" microbe prevent disease?

Using art with common core, includes strategies: - building analysis skills through art - claims evidence reasoning encourage student debate I do we do you do museum sxhibition as a culminating event roll dice for participation see-wonder-think tools for participation visiting a musuem

Nature's best kept secret is a wonder molecule called RNA. It is central to the origin of life, evolution, and the cellular machinery that keeps us alive. In this Lab you'll play the role of a molecular engineer by solving RNA folding puzzles. Then take your skills to Eterna, where you can design RNAs that could be at the heart of future life-saving therapies.

Ever wonder how your food would be without any human intervention over the course of agriculture history? For thousands of years, farmers have manipulated their crops to get the best yields and have resulted in many of the produce you see today.

Will men be able to give birth sooner than, well, never? (Credit Yahoo Health/iStock) That's the question provoked by last week's announcement that the Cleveland Clinic is performing uterus transplant surgery on women who were born without a womb or whose uterus is diseased or malfunctioning. Hearing the news, we, and some of you, wondered: If science can transplant a uterus into a woman, can it transplant one into a man?

Gut microbes-the collection of bacteria and other organisms that inhabit our intestines-have been shown to play a role in a wide variety of conditions from asthma to obesity. But researchers still don't know precisely how they contribute to obesity. To gain a better understanding, a team led by physiologist Mirko Trajkovski from the University of Geneva in Switzerland has been following up on any leads he can to learn about the link between these microbes and metabolism. Trajkovski knew from past research that getting rid of some gut bacteria in mice makes them less able to maintain their internal body temperature in the cold. He wondered whether there might be a connection between gut microbes, external temperature, and weight control.

In the deep, dark ocean, many sea creatures make their own light for hunting, mating and self-defense. Bioluminescence expert Edith Widder was one of the first to film this glimmering world. At TED2011, she brings some of her glowing friends onstage, and shows more astonishing footage of glowing undersea life.