Cellular & Microscopic Biology
Cellular and microscopic biology allow scientists to study cells and microorganisms. Cellular biology is the study of cells, including their structure and function. Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, which include algae, bacteria, and viruses.
Biotic Factors vs. Abiotic Factors: Examples and Dependencies
Meet the Largest Living Organism, aka the Humongous Fungus
Ascaris Lumbricoides: The Stomach Worm Nobody Wants
Indica vs. Sativa: How to Distinguish Between Cannabis Plants
Can You Crack This Nuts Quiz?
The Science Behind Your Cat's Catnip Craze
Neanderthal vs. Homo Sapien: Separate Species With Different Fates
Howstuffworks Interviews: Extinction Level Events with Annalee Newitz
What will the Earth look like in 50,000 years?
The Most Common Hair Color Isn't Blonde
What Is the Most Common Eye Color? Over 70% of People Have It
Reading a Codon Chart and Identifying Amino Acids
Call of the Void: A Counterintuitive Form of Self-preservation
9 Most Common Phobias (and How To Conquer Them)
North Node Retrograde: What It Means for Your Spiritual Path
Learn More / Page 2
Phone calls, e-mails, sign language, friendly shouts -- this is how we communicate in our daily lives. Bacteria, some of the tiniest organisms on Earth, have a different way of talking.
For something too small to be detected by an ordinary microscope, viruses pack a big punch. We all know they can wreak havoc on the body, but how do they do it?
Cell suicide sounds unpleasant, but this programmed cell death is the reason your fingers and toes are no longer webbed. What's the story behind apoptosis, and what does it have to do with curing disease?
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If you've kept up with the news lately, you've probably heard dire warnings about avian flu, or bird flu. In this article, we'll review the basics of how viruses and influenza work, and we'll learn the answers to these and other questions about avian flu, including whether it is likely to cause a global flu epidemic.
Hand sanitizers can only get you so far in preventing a viral infection. Scientists are discovering how visible light can be used to destroy viruses. Learn about the laser technique and what it means for the future.
You may be familiar with the medieval "Black Plague," but did you know that bouts of plague still break out today? Find out what causes an outbreak, why plague still exists and how the plague has influenced history.
By Tracy V. Wilson & Alia Hoyt
While most flu sufferers moan and groan for about a week and then return to work, the flu season creates more than just discomfort and a costly loss of work days.
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We hear about them on the news and we listen to politicians argue for and against them using them to treat disease. Learn all about stem cells and the research, challenges and controversy that surround them.
The human body is composed of about 10 trillion cells. Everything from reproduction to infections to repairing a broken bone happens down at the cellular level. Find out all about cells.
Bacteria are both friend and foe to humanity. They cause and cure health problems, make rotting food stink and give sourdough its delicious taste. Find out how these countless tiny microbes accomplish all of this and more.
Your body replaces billions (with a b!) of cells every day. In about 100 days, 30 trillion be replaced, but does that mean you're a new person, too?
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Viruses, viroids and prions are microscopic, infectious particles with a common, despicable goal - but the way each goes about achieving that goal is different.
By Debra Ronca
Yep, fungi are all around us - in the grocery store, in the woods or living on your discolored toenail. And fungi can break down almost anything.
No life, except possibly very small bacteria, would exist on Earth without photosynthesis.
Chloroplasts are where some of the most miraculous chemistry on Earth goes down.
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Prokaryotic cells are like single-room efficiency apartments while eukaryotic cells are like mansions with many rooms - and they are the only two kinds of cells in the world.
The part of your cells that helps you recover from a hangover is shaped like a maze of tubes and is made of two parts - the rough endoplasmic reticulum and the smooth endoplasmic reticulum.
Centrioles are spindles that create the pathways for chromosomes to follow during cell division.
The mass of microorganisms swarming inside your favorite elite athlete's body may be a great business opportunity.
By Amanda Onion
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While plant and animal cells are strikingly similar, there are a few key differences.
When an electron loses its partner, it creates a free radical. So is that free radical now potentially hazardous to your health?
You probably use the words mold and mildew interchangeably. But these two types of fungi aren't quite the same. Is one worse?
It's all connected! Recent rodent research suggests that immune responses and social behavior may be more intertwined than we realized.
By Julia Layton
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Dust traveling over the Atlantic from North Africa feeds both phytoplankton that makes the oxygen we breath and the bacteria that could kill us.
Researchers are calling for a new "Noah's Ark" to store microbes that might one day be valuable.
By Chris Opfer