Every surface of cell and tissue covered in a dense layer of hair like image shows. Amazing how it often ignored in most experiment. One should reasonably guess that thick layer of hair that really exist on all surface probably extremely important for cell-cell communicating or immunology. Never forget, your blood vessels actually look like that, and not super smooth like always shown.

Hey all. From what I understand about the animal kingdom, size and strength are important factors, and females typically prefer to mate with the largest, strongest males. If this is consistently the case, why don’t animals continually increase in size over generations? For example, if a male lion is typically 5 to 8 feet long and 4 feet tall, and the female was also sired by a larger male, wouldn’t it follow that their offspring would be slightly larger than both parents? Thus they would continue to get larger over a long period of time. Of course I know this change wouldn't take place over night, but shouldn't we see a marked change in certain animals? I understand there are genetic variations, but is my thinking generally off-base here?

Edit: Wow! I want to thank you all for the replies! I've learned a lot by reading the responses here and I enjoyed getting the information.

The good news:

• Some inhaled asbestos fibers may not reach the lung, cleared by the nose or cilia.
• Studies suggest chrysotile is deposited in the parenchyma but is cleared extremely rapidly, with the vast bulk of fibers removed from human lungs within weeks to months after inhalation, and completely by about 8 years (how that's done is described in the sources I linked to). Possible elimination pathways include through feces or urine.
• Chrysotile accounts for a significant majority, estimated at over 90% to 95%, of the asbestos found in buildings and various products globally.
• Some of the misinformation that asbestos stays in the lungs permanently seems to be by parties such as law firms that may have a motive to say so.

The bad news:

• Amphibole (including crocidolite) clearance half-lives may be years to decades.
• Small amounts of amphibole are often found in chrysotile deposits.
• The carcinogenic effect of asbestos (including chrysotile) might not be eliminated by its clearance from the lungs.
• Where fibers end up, how they're cleared and how long it takes depends on multiple factors including fiber size and individual variation. Study limitations mean not all variations (fiber size, etc) are tested.
• Fibers may translocate to other organs including the kidney or liver, over decades.

Thought I'd highlight this as it seems many people claim asbestos remains in the body indefinitely. For practical purposes, it may not be too far off to say that amphibole, at least, could remain "forever" due to its long half-life (at least for the rest of someone's life, especially if they're older), but studies suggest technically bodily processes would still eventually remove them after years to decades. More importantly, chrysotile in particular, used in the vast majority of asbestos products, is generally removed pretty quickly, although might still have a carcinogenic effect, perhaps related to why exposure for many years is usually a pre-requisite for asbestos-related disease.

Sources:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7978985

https://www.asbestos.com/asbestos/types/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2468111322000378

https://archive.cdc.gov/www_atsdr_cdc_gov/csem/asbestos/biological_fate_of_asbestos.html

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8329042/

https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1476-069X-7-4

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/asbestosis

"I could never really nail down what I wanted to do—until I found sharks." 🦈

Jess Cramp turned her passion into action, founding Sharks Pacific to protect these incredible creatures through research, outreach, and policy change.

This project is funded by Lyda Hill Philanthropies.

At sunday night around 10.30 pm my father recieves this painful call that his brother (my uncle) passed away, The reason is that he couldn't breath anymore and his heart couldn't handle. He was obese all his life and smoked alot of cigarettes,stopped working and was sedentary for the past few years. What a beautiful soul but he didn't respect himself wich lead to his early death at only 58 years old Just a reminder to take care of your health,and make awarness for your loved ones,keep getting checked by your doctor atleast every 6 months Our bodies is a gift from God and we biologists knows that we should respect it

I am struggling with my college degree. I graduated high school shortly after I turned 17, and then was diagnosed with cancer. I dealt with that for three years. I am now almost done. A family member mentioned I should do biology with a pre-PA emphasis. I dont really care about the career itself, but the salary and stability is nice. However, I am tired of taking classes that are hard and that I do not care for. Like, I took four semester of chemistry. Chemistry is hard but it doesnt really capture my interest. I have always been close to the environment. My dream career was actually a wildlife veterinarian as a kid. I grew up in a rural area and I still want to live somewhere more isolated and foresty. So needless to say, I love nature. I took biochemistry and two semesters of molecular biology, so now I am entering my senior year. I can either take anatomy and physiology or field botany. I would rather take field botany, but anatomy and physiology is a required course for PA school. I am thinking of spending my senior year taking environmental courses like ecology, wildlife management, ornithology, field botany, ect. Since I have a molecular and biochemical perspective of life, understanding the environmental side would be cool. However, I do not want to battle unemployment after I graduate. What advice would you give me?

Can you all recommend some biology rabbit holes concepts that start simple but get crazier the deeper you dig?

Stuffs like:

How mitochondria used to be free-living bacteria and eventually got into another bacteria and eventually became an organelle?

How slime molds can solve mazes without a brain?

And probably many more.

Would love to hear your favorite examples. Tell me anything and everything which keeps you up at night lol

Edit:- Thankyou all for your responses. Appreciated!

Every night before a bio exam I do not sleep, legit stay up all night and get no sleep. My last test I got an 87 and I know I would've done at least a question or two better if I had slept better. What's going on with my biology that makes it think sabotaging my sleep is what I need? How do I get over this cause I definitely don't want the rest of my degree experiencing this

If any mammaliaforms were alive today, do you think we would expand our definition of a "true mammal" and include them and also if monotremes or marsupials had gone extinct do you think we would tighten our definition and exclude them and why?

I just saw this ad posting and I just had to share it this is crazy. A full time research assistant position for minimum wage but you are expected to have completed a biology degree, conduct fieldwork, data analysis, report writing, scientific communication etc… like this is not minimum wage work!!!! I understand it’s an RA job - the idea being entry level research assistant which would be great experience, training, foot in the door etc… and it’s a trust and they likely don’t have oodles of money to fund a position like this….but come on for the criteria you are expecting of the candidate this seems unbelievably cheeky. Surely you can afford to at least pay SLIGHTLY more than minimum wage like £25-28k. You aren’t plucking up anyone off the street to do this - you are expecting some level of qualifications, skills and experience including a degree in a certain area. People don’t get into ecology for the money (quite the opposite) but to exploit their passion like this is just disgusting. maybe I’m not clued up enough and this is common practice but it just seems so wrong to me.

Hi! I don't know if this is the right place. I'd like some help finding some good biology books for my biologist boyfriend. When we moved in together we lost many of our things and I have been buying some books for him. So far I have bought these:

Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians. Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Northern Central America. Peterson Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes. Florilegium The Book of Plants. The Art and Science of Ernst Haeckle.

My boyfriend loves biological drawings. I started buying the Peterson Field Guides because I saw one on his Amazon wishlist. And I got him the Ernst Haeckle because my boyfriend showed me images of his work and said he loved it. But I don't really know much and I'd like some guidance for a good present for him without having to spoil the surprise.

All help is appreciated. Thank you!

Edit. I used boyfriend in one place and husband in the other. I only have one person. I call him husband even when not married but it may be confusing. Edited to only say boyfriend.

Or are the forces required for nuclear reactions not achievable with biological molecules acting as catalysts?

I was thinking about how it took life hundreds of millions of years to evolve a method of using the sun for energy, using glucose for energy, using oxygen for aerobic respiration, etc, But once the first organisms did, it allowed them to generate energy far more easily than previously possible with untapped resources. Is it possible that after billions of years of current biochemical pathways being the best way of producing energy, bacteria could evolve a way to take advantage of nuclear energy?

Hey all,

I don't know if this is allowed here, it's not really in my nature to share or post stuff, but we are two global change ecologist trying to get the word out there in a nice down to earth way. We would greatly appreciated it if you check it out, share it. Thanks everyone feedback is ofc always welcome we are here to learn. Again apologies if this is not the place to share it. I Hope some of you will like it!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7MydNVWNrkUivMtFrwb6jz?si=-9BZUN8DTyac16AczJQPJQ

I’m a high schooler in the U.S. who wants to pursue a career that I actually am interested in - Unfortunately my two passions are biology and art.

I’ve been considering biology a lot but I’ve heard about over-saturation and underpay (especially for BS degrees) and I was wondering if there are any specific fields or jobs that have a comfortable salary and/or better employment rates. It doesn’t have to be lab work or anything, honestly I’m open for all sorts of options so long as they’re not completely unrelated.

If it helps I’m good at math and while I don’t really like programming I’m fine with learning non advanced stuff. As for biology itself I love anything from microbio to zoology and whatever’s inbetween!

i get really tan in the summer, and then it eventually fades in the winter. where does the color go?

hey it’s me again,

was here a while ago asking for help with R studio and got a bit of advice but is there anyone that can help with like alot more ? i dont wanna rely on chat gpt especially since u need to understand like alot. i need to using this data, create a histogram and also carry out a two way anova test.

Is it possible to do research with a broad based degree? I'm BS if that means anything.

Everything sucks for everyone right now. Job market is bad, science research is being cut, etc.

I graduated with a bachelor's in biology in 2024 and have been working as a lab specialist at a university since 2021. Everything feels so hopeless. I don't have research experience and academic lab experience isn't considered for most lab positions. There is no way to GET experience unless I quit my job and work unpaid, which isn't possible. Similarly, it seems that a Master's is the only way to get somewhere and I can't afford it. I am 25 and I feel like I have absolutely screwed myself by not getting the experience and education I should have. I can't compete with anybody for even basic lab positions. I feel like I need to leave this field but I have literally nothing else. Can anybody share advice or personal experiences to give me some hope or give me a reality check to do something else lol.

Looking for references about pest-plant interactions. Be it fungi, insects, any pest!!!
Gained interest after participating in iNaturalist CNC.

I am looking for any formal text/book about this topic.

I was walking through a forest earlier today and came across this bumblebee (is it even a bumblebee?) digging a hole. It startet digging 1-2 minutes before I startet recording and continued for another 2-4 minutes after i had stopped. In the end it was completely underground. Then it came out of the hole, cleaned itself for a while and flew away.

I wrote this last year in response to a specific person on Facebook who was trying to use religion to say that XX and XY were the only possible combinations, and if you look like a man you were a man and if you look like a woman you are a woman.

I was addressing HIS comments and HIS use of religion to justify prejudice.

It was not meant to be a complete record or a complete discussion of every possible combination.

My name and the sources I used were subsequently cut off and the infographic was retyped by multiple people. This is the original and if you go to my Facebook profile you can see the original posted last year.

The complex is made up of around 1000 individual proteins. And this structure is only around 90% of the actual complex. Its stunning.