Coelacanths, from the Latin for hollow spine, are crossopterygii, a class of bony fishes most members of which are extinct or, at least, thought to be extinct. These fishes are thought to be direct evolutionary ancestors of amphibians and, consequently,…
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Plant Profile – American ginseng American ginseng is a slow growing perennial herb indigenous to the low, deciduous forests of the eastern United States and Canada. The plant has been overly harvested due to the strong market for its medicinal…
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In Search of Memory, is a wonderful book by Dr. Eric Kendal, which contains major threads of discovery and growth that interweave throughout this fascinating book making it a very personal and intense scientific journey into the heart and history…
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The Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha) has great significance for all Australians. * In 1988, the Golden Wattle was formally designated the Floral Emblem of Australia although it had been unofficially accepted in 1901 to mark the Federation of Australia. * …
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World wide, there are 2500 different species of mosquitoes. In the USA alone there are 150 species. Mosquitoes must have stagnant water to breed. Only the adult female mosquitoes bite men and other animals, like cattle, horses, goats, deer, rabbits,…
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The thermometer has its origins back in the sixteenth century with Galileo but didn’t become recognisable as a modern instrument until it was revolutionised first by Santorio and then Fahrenheit in later centuries. The Greeks made simple thermometers in the…
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E. O. Wilson, noted biologist and professor at Harvard, has dedicated his life to the study of ants, and through them, to the study of social behavior. Out of that study came a groundbreaking and controversial book, Sociobiology, first published…
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Red campion (Silene dioica) is a fairly variable plant which typically shows a bright pink or red flower but which may also be white. This latter fact makes it almost indistinguishable from White campion with which it may also hybridise…
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Charles Darwin was a British naturalist who developed the modern theory of evolution in the 19th century. After training in medicine and theology, Darwin studied nature, learning about anatomy, geology, and classification. All that studying paid off when he signed…
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High-tech DNA techniques such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), DNA sequencing, and micro-arrays have revolutionized all aspects of biology. My genetics professor as an undergrad, a traditional bristle-counting fruit fly geneticist, predicted that molecular genetic techniques would spark are theoretical…
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