Biology Archives - Quirky Science

01Aug 2020 by Vincent Summers No Comments

What is Umami? What Food Does It Bring to Mind?

Biology, Food

[caption id="attachment_28768" align="alignright" width="480"] Chinese foods are famous for being umami rich.[/caption]During my early years, the tongue was believed to have a variety of taste receptors nicknamed taste buds located or "mapped out" at different parts of the tongue. There were four: sweet and sour, salt and bitter. These basic tastes can be compared to the primary colors, red, yellow and blue. Any color we can come up with can be derived from some combination of red, yellow and blue. But with regard to the basic tastes, could it be there are actually more than four? Enter Umami A new variety of taste bud is postulated. From the Japanese word umami, roughly equivalent to the English savory, this new taste bud has been associated with the flavor of meat and…

07Oct 2019 by Vincent Summers 2 Comments

I “Discover” The Chestnut Weevil Maggot

Biology, Nature

Sitting at my computer desk one day, I spotted a small maggot crawling along. Now a couple of hours earlier, I had a couple of apples sitting there, so I wondered if they were the source of the maggot that came from those, possibly a fly maggot. No, they were not. Now in the fall, which this is, I gather seeds from various plants, to dry them and put them away for next year. Among these are sunflower, hot pepper, and zinnia seeds. I know no maggot in its "right mind" would make its home in a Serrano pepper. And I hadn't gathered the zinnia seeds yet. Then again, there was no evidence of maggots in the thousands of sunflower seeds. Source of the Maggot What was left? Well, I…

30Sep 2019 by Vincent Summers 8 Comments

Donkeys, Burros, Mules, Jackasses – What’s the Difference?

animals, Biology

[caption id="attachment_26416" align="alignright" width="432"] A beautiful young horse.[/caption]From youth till only recently, I've wondered "What's the difference between donkeys, burros, mules and jackasses?" Perhaps it's crossed your mind as well, yet you've never sought an answer until now. Hopefully, you will find the answer you seek in this article... What's a Donkey? [caption id="attachment_26419" align="alignright" width="400"] A domesticated donkey.[/caption]The donkey is said to come from the African wild ass. It has been used as a work animal for ages. It is a fertile animal, multiplying in the usual way. And What's a Burro? A burro is a small, wild (rather than domesticated) donkey. And burro is Spanish for donkey. Here is a 38 second video of wild burros outside Las Vegas, Nevada... What's Different About a Mule? [caption id="attachment_26420" align="alignright"…

04Sep 2019 by Vincent Summers No Comments

Spring Webworms, Fall Webworms – What’s the Difference?

Biology, Nature

[caption id="attachment_26380" align="alignright" width="480"] Fall web worms in nest.[/caption]You've seen or heard of webworms? Well, there are Spring webworms and there are Fall webworms. What's the difference? In some people's minds, there is no difference. Let's illustrate why that is by comparing it to the world of crime. When someone perpetrates a series of crimes, TV police closely consider the "Perp's" modus operandi, or method of operation. This is of some value in understanding the thinking of the criminal so they can better identify him or perhaps anticipate his next victim. Another person might choose to commit a crime using the same modus operandi so his crime will be blamed on the serial criminal. That way he, this other person, will not be held accountable for the crime he committed.…

27Jul 2019 by Vincent Summers 2 Comments

How Procreation Differs from Creation

Bible, Biology

When humans produce a child, that child is said to be a product of procreation. This is different from creation. What do these two words mean? That is, what is the difference between creation and procreation? Creation In the strictest sense of the term, creation is the production of something from nothing. Although an artist may produce a great painting and we marvel at his "creativity", he or she did, after all, start with something. Perhaps a canvas and paints! Of course what we mean is his marvelous painting never existed before and since he did paint it, we have something new and beautiful we can enjoy. So we speak of the painting's creation. God? Most of us are familiar with the account that says God formed the first man…

15May 2019 by Vincent Summers 2 Comments

How Does Thioglycolate Hair Remover Work?

Biology, Chemistry

Hair: men bemoan its loss and women fret over its appearance. For decades during the 20th Century, women were enamored by the so-called permanent wave. The most common process for assuring permanency of a hairstyle obtained at the beauty parlor involved a chemical process involving thioglycolate. See, Permanent Wave: Chem-mystery of Curl. By Extension... Although this process was used, not to remove hair, but to beautify it, by extension, a closely related process has been used to eliminate hair that grows¹ in undesired places. Notice this chemical reaction that occurs when thioglycolate is used to remove hair². 2 HOOC-CH₂-SH + R-S-S-R → HOOC-CH₂-S-S-CH₂-COOH + 2 R-SH The above reaction reads: two thioglycolic acid molecules plus one cystine (disulfide hair bond) produces two dithioglycolic acid molecules and two cysteine molecules. To…

22Apr 2019 by Vincent Summers No Comments

DNA: The Modular Staircase of Life

Biology, Chemistry

[caption id="attachment_24326" align="alignright" width="480"] Molecular model of a Portion of a DNA molecule. – Image by Skeeze[/caption] The most common inorganic (non-carbon) compounds have molecular weights no more than about 200 or 300. Organic compounds can run easily into the many hundreds and thousands. DNA by comparison possesses a molecular weight, depending on the variety, of billions, even trillions. Examining a typical model of the DNA molecule, it appears extremely complex. However, this is from a ‘trees versus the forest’ viewpoint. When viewed as a united structure, DNA assumes a basic form – that of a twisting staircase. DNA is the staircase of life. Molecular Weight and Molecules The atomic weight of an element is defined as the ratio of the mass of an atom of that element to 1/12…

21Apr 2019 by Vincent Summers 2 Comments

Mono- Di- and Polysaccharides: Starches Sugars Cellulose

Biology, Chemistry

[caption id="attachment_24172" align="alignright" width="480"] This Giant Sequoia stands tall thanks to Cellulose. – Image by Tripastute[/caption] Carbon appears to be unique in its immense chemical diversity. So much so, that an entire branch is devoted to its chemical behavior – organic chemistry. Yet, the name given to this branch of chemistry indicates something of more importance than its being just another branch among many. Organic chemistry began as the chemistry of living things, the chemistry of all things organic. There are literally millions of carbon compounds incorporated into organic chemistry. The group we will consider here is the saccharides. Some among these consist of multiple saccharide units joined together. Hence, they are termed polysaccharides. What is a Saccharide? The word “saccharide” is derived from the Latin sacchararum, “meaning full of…

13Apr 2019 by Vincent Summers No Comments

Organic Chemistry and Life: Has Vitalism Been Born Again?

Biology, Chemistry

[caption id="attachment_23607" align="alignright" width="480"] Pillars of Creation[/caption] The phrase ‘organic compound’ relates to the word organism, closely associated with life and life processes. Organic compounds largely consist of carbon atoms linked in chains or rings that contain hydrogen and frequently one or more other atoms called hetero atoms – notably oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus. Inorganic compounds are everything else – for example, nickel chloride, ammonium nitrate, carbon dioxide, and phosphorus pentoxide. It is important to recognize that there are a relative handful of organic compounds that do not contain carbon chains or rings, but result from life processes, including for example, urea, NH2-CO-NH2.. During the 1800s, scientists widely believed organic compounds could not be generated in the laboratory. However, in the year 1828, chemist Friedrich Wöhler converted inorganic ammonium…

21Mar 2019 by Vincent Summers 1 Comment

Have You Ever Seen Beautiful Gray-Green, Dipped-in-Red, Soldier Moss?

Biology, Plants

I rarely ever notice the kind of car a person is driving, or the clothing they are wearing. Yet from the first time I was exposed to a tiny lichen on a piece of rotting wood, I was enchanted by its beauty. It had short shafts of pale gray-green with tips of the brightest, purest red I've ever seen in nature. But then, I've often noticed the tiny things are often the most beautiful, if you look at them closely. Soldier Moss Soldier moss is also known as British soldier. The red tips are referred to as fruiting bodies. Although the comparison is not quite the same, the mushrooms we eat are just the fruiting body. The essential part of the fungus is called the mycelium. Actually, Soldier moss is…