Dr. Gordon Beakes
Newcastle University
Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, UK
Specimen: Desmid Micrasterias ovata showing chlorophyll autofluoresence (red) and cell wall.
Technique: Confocal microscopy
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So I drink like 3 glasses of milk a day, I love cream and I love icecream, but sadly, I am developing lactose intolerance. Naturally, I googled it.
The technical term for lactose intolerance is hypolactasia. So we know that when we eat food, it travels through our oesophagus, stomach and intenstines. The enzymes found in the stomach and the intestine (e.g. amylase) break down different molecules so that they are smaller and are able to be absorbed through the intenstinal wall. Well a specific enzyme known as lactase, catalyses the reaction for the break down of lactose which is found in dairy. Lactose is a dissacharide sugar (relatively small). The breakdown is a hydrolisis reaction and results in galactose.
In mammals, infants usually produce lactase untill they are weaned from their mothers, however due to extended consumption of dairy, over time the human population has developed lactose persistence, meaning it is continued to be produced after weaning. Despite this, approximately 75% of adults show a decrease in lactase at some point.
Cultures that have favoured dairy for hundreds of years are more likely to have individuals who are lactase persistent (e.g. european countries).
There are multiple independant mutations which allow lactase persistence (different mutations are found in different cultures).
Elephant and Mahout
Photograph by David Doubilet, National Geographic
An elephant and its mahout swim together in the Okavango River in Botswana. Rich with wildlife, the inland Okavango Delta is formed by the river’s seasonal floodwaters.
THE GREAT BARRIER REEF is one of the planet’s most famous natural wonders, stretching across 348,000sq.km and comprised of more than 2900 separate reefs. But disturbing new research reveals it has lost half its coral cover since 1985.
The study from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), published today in the US journal theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides a dim view of the reef’s future.
“Coral cover on the GBR is consistently declining, and without intervention, it will likely fall to 5 to 10 per cent within the next 10 years,” say the authors of the report. “Without intervention, the GBR may lose the biodiversity and ecological integrity for which it was listed as a World Heritage Area.”
Photo and caption by Joe Quinn
Tiny caterpillars consume a leaf. As they grow they slowly take on the color of the leaf.
Location: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA
Whale Shark
Photograph by Brian Skerry
The sweeping color of sea and sky, blue is a common thread in nature, seen in the cerulean of a whale shark (pictured here), the indigo of a stormy night, and the cobalt of a peacock’s feathers. Over the centuries, the hue has come to represent calm, cold, mysticism, and sadness.
Azurite
Photograph by David Boyer
Some of nature’s intricate patterns are on display in this magnified view of the mineral azurite. The bright blue mineral was once used to make paints and may still be found in jewelry.
A comic about love-sick DNA fragments and gel electrophoresis.
What has my life come to.
Gel electrophoresis is a technique used in many different fields to separate DNA, RNA or protein particles by charge and size. DNA/RNA is commonly used in an agarose gel, whereas a polyacrilamide gel is used for proteins. Both gel types are subjected to a voltage that will bring the particles through the gel, however smaller particles will move through the gel more easily than large particles.
-bioljerk
*sniff*
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Sandstone Patterns
Photograph by Frans Lanting
A balance of playful yellow and passionate red, orange commands attention without overwhelming. This often flamboyant color brings to mind citrus and sunsets, fall leaves, and jack-o’-lanterns. Orange has even been found to stimulate appetite and creativity in humans.
Here, patterns etched in sandstone appear like an artist’s rendering of the Utah landscape. Dramatic sandstone formations are the main attraction at the state’s Arches National Park.
Between 700,000 and one million species live in the world’s oceans, according to a thorough new analysis, which also estimated that between one-third and two-thirds of those species have yet to be named and described.
The new numbers are far smaller than previous estimates, which had put the tally of marine species as high as 10 million or more. By coming up with a more accurate picture of what we know and what we don’t yet know about marine life, the study should help scientists better focus conservation efforts where they’re needed most.
“You can only love something if you know it,” says Ward Appeltans, a marine biologist at the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO in Oostende, Belgium. “We will not save the world with this result, but we may start understanding it better.”
The new findings also open up the possibility that we may eventually be able to identify just about every creature living in the sea.
“It may not be mission impossible to describe all the marine species in the ocean,” Appeltans says. “We are describing 2000 new marine species every year. If we can keep that momentum, we can start knowing exactly what’s living on our planet.”
