In the pacific ocean, in the shallow coastal waters near Hawaii and Midway Island, lives a diminutive species known as the Hawaiian bobtail squid, which has evolved a surprising adaptation to hide from predators. Growing on the squid’s body are colonies of bacteria, known as Vibrio fischeri, which have made a symbiotic pact with theContinue reading “the devil in the covid-19 vaccine?”
Category Archives: science
have i broken geometry?
(Spoiler alert: I have not broken geometry) Suppose you have a square with side-length, L, completely surrounding a circle of radius, R, such that the edge of the circle just touches the inside of the square, like so: Those of you that remember your geometry will recall that the circumference of the circle – thatContinue reading “have i broken geometry?”
gel electrophoresis for beginners!
This is for all my fellow lab-rats. Based on a true story. /millibeep
what exactly is PCR?
Those of us who have been following the news over the past year and a half1 have likely become accustomed to hearing the terms “PCR” or “PCR test” all the time. Specifically, you might have heard that a PCR test is the gold standard for detecting viral infections because it is so sensitive, but whyContinue reading “what exactly is PCR?”
what is the simplest form of life?
“merely bags of chemical soup, the sticky residue of the glorious death of a thousand dying suns” – eniteris, on what constitutes a living thing. It seems like a straightforward question at first, but if we scratch the surface just a little bit the enormous complexity of attempting an answer becomes apparent. However, since hubris isContinue reading “what is the simplest form of life?”
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