Your Biology Book Is Out Of Date
If you learn enough about biology, it becomes pretty clear that the “bag of water filled with organelles” view of the cell that is printed in almost every biology book in the world is just … well, wrong.
Nature has released a feature detailing some of the newest and strangest findings in recent years, from the membrane nanotube that some cells use to communicate between one another (top), to enormous chains of thousands and thousands of enzymes like the CTP synthase filaments (bottom, green blobs).
Time to update those textbooks!
(images via Nature)
Posts tagged "Biology"
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Source jtotheizzoe
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Mitosis
Pictures possibly from Molecular Cell Biology, 6th Edition by Lodish et al. They were in my lecture slides.
So much more festive than I ever knew mitosis could be!
Source unfolded-proteins -
Six day old human embryo. Life is a very beautiful thing.
Photo by: Medico Space
Please visit heythereuniverse for more great pictures!
(submission from luutopia)
Source ohscience -
"Life has been around on Earth for a bit over 3 billion years, maybe even 4 billion years. Physicists tell us that the Sun will eventually swell and turn into a red giant (it won’t explode in a supernova as it isn’t massive enough). But before it turns into that fat old sun in the sky and swallows up the Earth, it will have rendered life on Earth impossible by simply making the place too darn hot. That will happen in around 1 billion years. So if you reckon that the window of opportunity for life on Earth is around 4 or 5 billion years, that means life is around 75% or 80% of the way through our alloted span – on this planet at least. So, Life, looking back on things, what do you think the best bits were? What was your greatest achievement? And what do you hope to do in the years that remain? After all, you’re someway along the downhill slope now…"Matthew Cobb (via sciencecenter)
(via sciencecenter)
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Source awi.de
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Jellyfish in Antarctica (Photo by Steve Claubesh; via Antarctic Photo Library)
Source photolibrary.usap.gov -
Source cifonauta.cebimar.usp.br
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Baroque Blood Vessels
A scanning electron microscope (SEM) image zooms in on the baroque branching structures that send blood to the human brain’s cortex. The vessels are organized such that the large blood vessels surround the surface of the brain (top of image), sending thin, dense projections down into the depths of the cortex (bottom of image).
(via Inside the Brain)
Credit: Alfonso Rodrigues-Baeza & Marisa Ortega-Sanchez, 2009
Source livescience.com -
How X-rays Work.
X rays hold a certain fascination in their ability to peer into the unknown and see bizarre things like snakes that have ingested light bulbs but like a lot of good things in science, X-rays were discovered entirely by accident. They’re usually attributed to Wilhelm Rontgen who noticed that a film across his lab begun to fluoresce during experiments with a Crooke’s Tube despite taking action to block radiation (in the form of a sheet of black card). It was then discovered that by moving his hand in between the Crooke’s tube and fluorescing screen he could see the bones in his hands.
The ability for X rays to penetrate flesh and render hidden things visible lies in the amount of energy contained within them. They simply cannot be absorbed by most atoms because there is not enough of an energy difference between electron orbitals, as such they pass through most molecules and atoms unhindered. However heavier elements, such as calcium, are capable of absorbing X rays and so effectively block them. The formation of X rays lies in the reverse process. To produce high energy electromagnetic radiation electrons are accelerated and fired at a metal (typically tungsten) plate. These high velocity electrons ionize the metal by bumping off one of electrons in a lower energy orbital causing a higher energy electron to fall to the lower state and emit the difference of energies in the process as an X ray photon.Source 14-billion-years-later -
cwnl:
Noctilucales Takeover: Bioluminescent Oceans
The most common species is Noctiluca scintillans, also called N. miliaris. It can be bioluminescent when disturbed, as are various other dinoflagellates, and large blooms can sometimes be seen as flickering lights on the ocean. Sub-class of Bioluminescence.
Source ikenbot -
Plant embryo.
Source heythereuniverse -
diatom
Source diatomloir.eu -
larva of a conger eel
Source ohscience- Camera: Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 5000 ED
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The large forest gecko (Gekko smithii) is a lizard from the forests of South-East Asia. In bright light, the blue-green iris of the gecko’s eye constricts to form a slit-shaped pupil featuring four tiny pinholes. These are thought to decrease the amount of light that enters the eye as well as the depth of field, giving the lizard better distance estimation in bright light. | +
(via project-argus)
Source flickr.com -
Mycologist Paul Stamets studies the mycelium — and lists 6 ways that this astonishing fungus can help save the world.
Incredible, highly recommended!
Source cosmosplasma
