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1500 questions
11
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Does sleep in humans re-structure based on the expected sleep time?
I've read about anecdotal evidence that human brain has a fairly good internal clock that can be used to judge the amount of time that has passed. I'm wandering if there are any mechanisms in the human brain by which the brain can make adjustments…
Alex Stone
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Why are potassium channels slower than sodium channels?
I am relatively new in the subject of biology. I have a strong mathematical background and in order to get into the field of computational neuroscience, I am trying to get some biological background.
I am reading about the general mechanism of…
user135172
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11
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Does the cell internal temperature changes in response to a change in external temperature?
Background
Some species are homeotherm (internal temperature is not affected by a change in external temperature) and some are poikilotherm (internal temperature changes in response to external temperature). These concepts apply to individual…
Remi.b
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11
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2 answers
How are babies born without a brain?
In the United States, anencephaly occurs in about 1 out of every 10,000 births. There are several forms of this condition, wherein the forebrain is absent. The forebrain is host to most of the higher functional areas in the mammalian brain. In the…
Lorenz Lo Sauer
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11
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2 answers
How did zootoxins evolve?
I've always wondered how toxins in certain organisms have evolved. Particularly, organisms that produce toxins as a deterrent to predators as opposed to organisms that use it to paralyze their prey.
Where did this toxicity come from? How did it…
humanoid
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11
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3 answers
If Tumors have lots of mutations in them how is it the immune system can't detect them?
If a cancerous tumor has a lot of mutations in them why can't the immune system detect them? If a person has cancer could this somehow alter the person's immune system so it doesn't function effectively to detect greatly mutated cells? Does the fact…
201044
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11
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How can an albatross stay airborne for months?
Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds allied to the procellariids, storm-petrels and diving-petrels in the order Procellariiformes. They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific.
Short tailed…
Lorenz Lo Sauer
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11
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1 answer
Did not understand a small excerpt from a research paper
Was going through this paper, among multiple things that i did not understand, I came across this part:
Each amino acid residue of a single
window was encoded into a unitary bit string of length 20, where a
bit was set (value = 1) if its…
girl101
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3 answers
Are the number of base pairs in a given chromosome same between different individuals?
This is a basic question but I couldn't find an answer through a web search; hopefully this is the right place to ask. Is the number of base pairs in a
particular chromosome the same in all individuals? For example if I take an
X-chromosome from two…
unknown
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11
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What is the strand specificity of a reference genome?
It's a simple question but I've come across many people who have this question, is the reference genome Positive of Negative strand? Indeed, I've had heated arguments over the same issue.
So here's to putting all those questions to rest.
Is the…
FoldedChromatin
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What elements are a possible basis for life?
I've been told that life on earth is carbon-based, Then I got curious about one thing: What are the possible bases for life and under which circumstances could lifr based on other elements exist?
If the existence of a silicon-based life is possible…
Red Banana
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11
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1 answer
Does your iris color have an effect on your vision?
I've always wondered if having different iris colors, (eye colors) may have any advantages or disadvantages on ones vision. Specifically regarding the effects of light.
Personally, I have troubles being out in the bright sun without sunglasses. My…
AstroMax
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3 answers
There aren't any animals like hornets that hunt large prey (like a rabbit, or even up to a deer), right? Why not?
There aren't any eusocial animals (hives of wasps, ants, termites, etc) that hunt large prey, are there?
I'm thinking prey in the size range of, say, a rabbit, or even a deer.
I can't see a rabbit or a deer having any real effective way to defend…
Owen_AR
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11
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Can we change our dopamine baseline levels?
Can we change our dopamine baseline levels? High dopamine levels improve alertness, problem solving, but may also cause anxiety and aggression.
I've read that smiling and laughing, eating certain foods, or having unexpected rewards can elevate…
Yvonne Liew
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11
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1 answer
Is trembling an advantageous response during periods of anxiety?
I originally had planned to ask about whether there was any biological truth in the popular phrase "shivering with fright". However, after doing a fair bit of googling it seems that there is a lot more medical reference to trembling as a result of…
Rory M
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