The Tiny Biology of BACTERIA and VIRUSES
You would not exist without viruses. I cover the very basics of life and the not-so-alive viruses.
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Where Did Life START?
Where did life originally come from? How did we get from rocks and gas to living animals and human beings? No one really knows but today, we’ll get closer to the answer of the origins of life.
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How old is a fish? Tree rings in fish bones (Ep. 51)
We’ve all heard of tree rings that allow us to determine the age of trees. Counting the lines on a cut-down tree allows us to figure out their age pretty accurately. Unfortunately, this only holds true for ring-forming trees, and even among those, it is necessary to damage the live tree for such age determination.…
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Common Shrimp: from Egg to Dinner Plate
With humans overfishing the oceans, other creatures take over where fish are missing. Today, we follow a common shrimp on his journey through life—and through the journey to become our dinner. This is not a success story. The fight for the future of humanity seems to be filled with propaganda, misinformation, and contradicting facts. Even…
DetailsWhat makes nature worth preserving?
I used to think fish were disgusting and ugly. The truth is, I had only seen dead fish. Swimming with anything from Garibaldi (Hypsypops rubicundus), a bright orange fish that likes to attack the shiny hook that attaches my camera to my body, to barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda), silvery shine and terrifying teeth, has changed my…
DetailsWhy are Coral Reefs DYING? What is Coral Bleaching?
Coral reefs are the basis for ocean life. A quarter of the ocean’s inhabitants depends on them—and so do millions and millions of humans. But with the warming ocean waters and more extreme weather events, coral reefs are struggling. The corals bleach. But what is coral bleaching? Coral reefs are cities underwater. About a quarter…
DetailsWhy Are Our Oceans Getting SOUR?
All that carbon dioxide that humanity has been throwing into the atmosphere has to go somewhere. The ocean is an excellent buffer but it isn’t fast. The surface ocean becomes more and more acidic and organisms of all sizes suffer because of it. Global warming, sea level rise, desertification, green house gases, and today’s topic:…
DetailsWhat is a KEYSTONE Species?
Keystone species are the glue for their ecosystems and hold everything together. Without them, entire ecosystems collapse. What are keystone species? What do they do? Why do we care? All species fulfill their purposes but some species are so important that their survival is essential to the ecosystem they live in. Keystone species can determine…
DetailsWhat Causes RED TIDES and Algae Blooms?
Florida has been suffering a particularly bad red tide this year. The algae bloom has been killing tons and tons of marine life. Algae blooms and bacteria blooms cause problems all over the world and a lot of them are made worse by human impact. CORRECTION: Karenia brevis is also not a plant. It belongs…
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