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Etymology of the term monilophyte
I would like to know the origin of the term Monilophyta. I know it's from Kenrick and Crane, but where did they get monilo-? It's not in my enormous Liddell and Scott Greek dictionary, nor is there any word starting with ilo- or hilo- that seems at all likely. Is it from the Latin word "monile" meaning necklace?
This is driving me crazy.

The Division has its name from a cross section of the stem, are lobes of protoxilema which remember the look of a necklace

Phylogeny and evolution of ferns (monilophytes) with a focus on the early leptosporangiate divergences:

The monilophytes (= Infradivision Moniliformopses, sensu Kenrick and Crane, 1997⇓) share a distinctive vasculature, having protoxylem confined to lobes of the xylem strand (Stein, 1993⇓), therefore the Latin moniliformis appellation for “necklace-like.”

Monilophytes = Leptosporangiate ferns, horsetails, whisk ferns, marattioid ferns, & ophioglossoid ferns.
According to A Dictionary of Entomology:

Latin, monil = necklace

As for "phyte," I'll quote this Source:

Greek, -phyte = denoting a plant or plantlike organism

So it literally means "necklace plants. "
From Rai & Graham (2010) :

The extant monilophytes (a name based on a “moniliform” or necklace-like stele thought to be ancestral in the group; Kenrick and Crane, 1997; Pryer et al., 2004)

Note : stele = the central core of the stem and root of a vascular plant, consisting of the vascular tissue (xylem and phloem) and associated supporting tissue.
In other words, the vasculature of all of these plants are arranged like a beaded necklace. This is further alluded to in Pryer et al. (2004) as quoted in @Kendall's answer.

Note: not to be confused with Molino- = "mill" [Source]


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Anemiaceae etymology
What is the etymology of the name Anemiaceae for a family of ferns? I assume that it's from the name Anemia for one of its genera, but that is equally mysterious. Obviously it has no blood, but what fern does? I have been unable to find an answer by searching the internet.

That one is Greek origin from aneimon or "naked, unclad, without clothing" which is to refer to the panicles of the sporangia.

source: Stack Exchange

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What is the speed of blood?
The speed of blood may vary from one place to another and may be quite low in the tiniest vessels compared to the biggest one. What is the speed of blood while exiting a normal human heart?

@GyroGearloose For the round time there is an old paper which I can add later. They injected substances into the arm and measured when they could find them again.

As you note yourself, this depends strongly on the vessel that you are studying. I found this table in reference 1:

It lists speeds between 34 and 45 cm/sec for the inferior vena cava and 12 to 16 cm/sec for the superior vena cava.
For the capillaries I found this table in reference 2, which measured the blood velocity in cats. Nevertheless I think this approach is also useful for an approximation for humans since the capillary system should be comparable:

It lists velocities between 0,2 and 2,7 mm/sec.
References:

Velocity of blood flow in normal human venae cavae.
Regulation of blood flow in single capillaries.

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What is the meaning of "gap" in G1 phase?
The full form of G1 phase is Gap one phase. G1 os also called first gap phase. Is there any specific meaning of " gap" here ?

The $G_1$ gap is the period between the last cell division and that start of DNA replication (synthesis). That's what "gap" means here. A period of time between two events. It's often described as time spent synthesizing proteins, but I prefer to think about it as the period before the signal to start synthesis lands. A cell can do any number of things in the meantime: synthesize proteins, grow, interact with other cells, move, differentiate, enter and exit $G_0$...

Albert's has a good chapter on the overview of the cell cycle and on the control system

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How do AC magnetic fields affect tissues?
AC magnetic field refers to an oscillating magnetic field. How do AC magnetic fields affect human tissues in vivo?


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Is there a formal name for the dissolved caterpillar substance produced during metamorphosis?
Is there a formal name for the dissolved caterpillar substance produced during metamorphosis? I've seen this described as a protein-rich soup, a horrid meltdown, larval tissue breakdown, metamorphic goo, etc. Wondering if it has a more specific scientific name?

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Help indentify this species of snake/worm
I stumbled upon this snake during my routine walking in the nature park near me. The location is southern India.

Time if observation is 6 30 PM.
The length was approximately 1 feet. I could see the tongue coming out just like normal snakes.
The tail was pointed. Guessing it to be red boa.

I would say not red boa - head shape is wrong as is colouration. I would hazard a guess at Kerela shieldtail based on the pics here: http://indiansnakes.org/

Body shape, coloration (especially lateral yellow stripe) and location all lead me to think this is some species of Uropeltis snake, all of which are endemic to India.

Wikipedia  lists 25 species in this genus, and at least some species are only differentiated by closely examining the number of scales or size of shields.

One common species is Uropeltis eliottii, but I'll admit the coloration looks a tad too dark for your specimen.

 Source: The Reptile Database
According to Wikipedia and The Reptile Database, this species is endemic to southern India.
In 2018, a new species, Uropeltis bhupathy was described by Jins et al (2018) from the Anaikatty Hills of the Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu (is this near you?), and I think the scale coloration looks closer to your specimen.

 Source: Jins et al (2018)

 Jins, V.J., Sampaio, F.L. and Gower, D.J., 2018. A new species of Uropeltis Cuvier, 1829 (Serpentes: Uropeltidae) from the Anaikatty Hills of the Western Ghats of India. Zootaxa, 4415(3), pp.401-422.

The color difference could be caused by the camera and the lighting (e.g. the scales reflecting light). I would guess your answer is right. Some cameras misrepresent colors, too; I have one that makes everything look more blue and less red than it appears. But yeah, we'd probably have to interrogate the questioner considerably to find out (about whether a flash was used, if a light was shining on the snake, if the snake was very reflective, if red things look less red with that camera, etc.)


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Why does hydroponic basil grow a thick stem?
I heard of a basil plant growing a thick uncuttable base stem when grown hydroponically. In just 6 months. It also grew very tall.
One explanation is the nutrient feed is too high.
Why else might this happen?
But it is an annual herb. Producing wood or whatever that part was comprised of seems out of the range of possibility for an annual.
Some annuals can become perennials in the wild. So a potential exists. My American spikenard has a new thick unbending base every year.
Can an annual, in the wild, grow such a firm stem base and remain an annual?

Welcome Gary W. Could you offer some additional details. Where did you hear of this? How do you know it's an annual  variety not perennial? Also, please take the [tour] and read up in the [help] about how we work - particularly the [ask] section. Can you show us what searches you've performed, what you found as per our requirements.

Too many unknowns about light and conditions to have an idea... Don't even know if the stem was big from age or from growing conditions

I read a dozen or so questions that came up automatically when I typed mine in. None were on this same topic. My question is interesting to me (thus I'd think it is to others) because it raises the question: can annuals have a thick stem at the base? I thought it was plant dogma that annuals always have flexible soft stems. I recently asked the NY botanic garden about it and found out some sunflowers are annuals and have ligneous tissue in the stem. I consequently learned that secondary growth is not the only source of such tissue.

My question did include that the basil was just six months old. I don't know if it is annual or perennial - my manager at work is the one who has the hydroponic garden. I think her failed attempts to cut the stem originated because she wanted to replant a cut part in her outdoor garden. I can find out about light and how dense the feeding solution was. She grew a few other herbs but the basil was the only one with the thick base.

I had a winter wild flower id book that stated plants are divided into: herb, perennial, tree or shrub.  That prompted my question because herbs are defined as "non-woody." It makes sense that some annuals contain some woody tissue because traits exist across a spectrum. The first angiosperm tree did not just appear out of nowhere, with evolution proceeding over generations. The basil plant referred to in my question had grown taller than the other plants in her collection.

Where it originated in warm regions, basil is a perennial.
According to Better Homes and Gardens
Most types of culinary basil are native to warm regions of Asia and Africa. They grow as perennial plants in USDA Zones 10–11. In cooler climates where frost occurs, culinary basils are grown as annual plants and don’t survive the winter. However, basil self-seeds if you allow the plants to flower.
Most gardeners plant basil in spring and harvest the crop throughout the summer. However, if you want to extend the harvesting window and grow basil all year round, grow basil indoors and harvest fresh leaves from the plants throughout the winter months. When properly maintained, basil plants usually last about a year indoors, but they can sometimes live up to four years.


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Is this arthropod non-intrusive and recommended to be left alive?
I am in Portugal (Lisbon) at the moment, and when leaving my room late at night (12 pm ~ 04 am) I usually face about 4 of these arthropods in the corridors:

(For reference, the "line" in the image is a standard separation on the floor. This particular example of the animal is a little smaller than a nail.) They seem to have quite variable sizes and walk primarily on ground. Also, as implicit above, they seem to be active primarily during the late night. (I don't see them much often, if at all, during the morning/afternoon.) They can be quite fast, but if left unharmed do not move much. They also appear to take shelter inside the walls.
From what I searched, it seems possible that they are centipedes. I've seen sites saying that they are useful to keep other less pleasant animals at bay. My questions are: What are those animals, and should I leave them be or not?

Related: Is this an insect? Which one?

This appears to be a silverfish, a very common household "pest" in the Lepismatidae family of insects.

 Photo Credit: Dong-Hwan Choe. Source: UC IPM
Silverfish are silver/grey and (like all members of the Zygentoma order) have three distinct, tail-like caudal appendages from their posterior end -- really, two large cerci with a central long filament.
 [Sources: 1, 2, 3].
According to Wikipedia, you can find them all arround the world:

Silverfish are a cosmopolitan species, found in Africa, the Americas, Australia, Eurasia, and other parts of the Pacific.[8] They inhabit moist areas, requiring a relative humidity between 75% and 95%.[9] In urban areas, they can be found in attics, basements, bathtubs, sinks, kitchens, old books, classrooms, and showers.[3]

They are relatively harmless due to their weak jaws [source], and their presence is typically a larger nuisance than the damage or disruption that they cause.
We have a number of posts already identifying silverfish and asking about management advice. Try yping "silverfish" into the Search bar at the top of the page to search for more information.

Thanks for the insightful response. Taking a look at the sources, it is unclear to me if the amount I'm finding is alarming. Would you know if it is?


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Database or model for plant nutrient requirements with respect to soil and climate?
Microalgae are organisms that can grow in aquatic environments and use light and carbon dioxide (CO2) to create biomass. Research showed that Microalgae biomass can be used as a bio-fertilizer.
My mission is: to find which plants in the world are best suited to arid climates and to arid soil that was treated using the Microalgae biomass.
With the help of a Reddit hero "CarverSeashellCharms," I was able to model which plants in the world can adapt to arid climate/arid soil based on a theory in biology named Species Distribution Modeling (SDM). This model takes in the geographic occurrences of a given plant in the world and based on the soil characteristics and climate variables, it can predict the probability of growing that plant (suitability) at any point in the world. The problem here is: this model considers only the soil characteristics and the climate variables without considering the Microalgae biomass (bio-fertilizer) effect.
So this is my approach to how to model the bio-fertilizer effect:
I'm into calculating a score that models the bio-fertilizer effect (effectiveness) and determining a new final score based on the suitability probability and the bio-fertilizer score.
Let's assume the following values:
Plant Nutrient Requirements:
Req_N = 0.3
Req_P = 0.05
Req_K = 0.2
Soil Chemical Characteristics:
Soil_N = 0.15
Soil_P = 0.02
Soil_K = 0.1
Fertilizer Chemical Characteristics:
Fert_N = 0.1
Fert_P = 0.02
Fert_K = 0.15
Step1: Calculate the nutrient deficiencies/excesses in the soil compared to the plant's requirements:
Deficiency_N = Req_N - Soil_N = 0.3 - 0.15 = 0.15
Deficiency_P = Req_P - Soil_P = 0.05 - 0.02 = 0.03
Deficiency_K = Req_K - Soil_K = 0.2 - 0.1 = 0.1
Step2: Calculate the nutrient contribution of the fertilizer to address the deficiencies:
Contribution_N = min(Deficiency_N, Fert_N) = min(0.15, 0.1) = 0.1
Contribution_P = min(Deficiency_P, Fert_P) = min(0.03, 0.02) = 0.02
Contribution_K = min(Deficiency_K, Fert_K) = min(0.1, 0.15) = 0.1
Step3: Calculate the overall nutrient contribution score (F):
F = (Contribution_N / Fert_N) * (Contribution_P / Fert_P) * (Contribution_K / Fert_K)
= (0.1 / 0.1) * (0.02 / 0.02) * (0.1 / 0.15)
= 1 * 1 * 0.6667
≈ 0.6667
Step4: Calculate the new score based on the suitability probability and the fertilizer score:
Let's say the suitability probability of the plant is 90%. w_s and w_f are 2 weight coefficients.
New Score = (w_s * S) + (w_f * F)
= (0.8 * 0.9) + (0.2 * 0.6667)
≈ 0.85334
The problem here is: To deploy and calculate this score I'm missing The plant nutrients requirements. How to determine the nutrient requirements (needs) of a plant (ex Indian fig, potatoes, ..) in terms of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K)... I mean how much nutrients a plant needs on average to grow. I know that the nutrient requirements of a plant can vary depending on factors such as soil fertility, and growth stage, but is there any database or any mathematical model that can model the nutrient requirements of a plant with respect to soil and climatic characteristics?
Note: I'm not a biologist, Just a data science Student. Sorry if the post is too long. I'm open to any biology/math resources and any other inspirations or approaches.

Not sure exactly what you're looking for, but I can at least suggest the following:
https://www.try-db.org/TryWeb/Home.php
TRY is a worldwide plant trait database providing free and open access to plant trait data.


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What species of snake is this? It was sighted in NE New Mexico, Union County
The snake in this photograph was found injured/dead in Clayton, Union, New Mexico (USA) on 10/06/2021. I want to know if it is a juvenile bullsnake or a Chihuahuan Night Snake...or something altogether different.

Can you mention the length of the snake??

This looks like a western hognose snake (Heterodon nasicus).

 Source: Wikipedia
Notice the OP's yellowish ground color with darker circles and elongated dark elliptic shapes on the head. this mirrors descriptions of H. nasicus, e.g.:

The dorsal ground color is light yellowish-tan to grayish-olive, or even a rich brown. There are a series of dark oval middorsal blotches with smaller ones along the sides. The ventral surface is white to yellowish with masses of dark pigment, sometimes with yellow or orange mixed in. The head is marked with long dark blotches

This is a relatively small snake (<20 inches) that is found from southern Canada to northern Mexico (source).

 Source: MN DNR


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Would fewer cows mean less methane emission?
Rotting grass produces the same amount of methane as cows that digest grass (see this source). So if cows did not eat the grass, it would still emit methane. Therefore, if there were fewer cows, would the total methane emission change at all?

AFAIK methane is only produced by anaerobic fermentation. Grass rotted i.e. by funghi produces a lot more CO2.

Couple of thoughts:

(The OP's article is a low quality source of info with either an interview taken out of context or an inappropriately vague or under-informed interviewee. Reasons why will become apparent throughout my answer.)

Much of the world's grasslands are maintained for and by grazing livestock. Without dedicating so much of Earth's surface to livestock, we would almost certainly have less grass.

Though, much of the world's livestock are fed corn vs non-cereal grasses more commonly referred simply to as "grass". It's unclear if the OP's question is referring to grasses taxonomically (i.e.,inclusive of cereal crops) or in a general sense regarding grass leaf blades only. Regardless, my initial claim applies to presence of both pastoralized grasslands and croplands. The distinction is more important for a later point I'll make below.

See here for more info.

Grass does not always "rot." Methanogenesis is an anaerobic process. The bacteria in a ruminant's stomach are anaerobic, as are bacteria in various wetlands (or in landfills). However, the large majority of grasses do not grow nor die in these anaerobic conditions, so methanogenic bacteria would not be responsible for breaking down most grass. Instead, most decomposition produces carbon dioxide. See here for more info.

Relative abundance of various bacterial types in a ruminant's gut is dependent on that particular livestock's diet. Methanogens (i.e., methane-producing bacteria) only become dominant when the cow consumes a high-sugar feed (vs. a high cellulosic feed) -- e.g., corn vs other grasses. See here for more info.

A quick review of the methane cycle might also prove beneficial. Methane is broken down both by UV light and by methanotrophs (though the latter is more important for preventing CH4 from entering the atmosphere -- e.g., in places like wetlands -- and the former is more important for breaking down existing atmospheric methane). Folland et al. (2001) estimated that the "lifespan" of methane in the atmosphere is ~9.6 years. As such, the rate of methane production is important, as slower production will result in less accumulation. This is important when one considers that decomposition of plant matter in wetlands, for example (though quite variable based on conditions) can take years (vs hours/days in a ruminants stomach). From EPA:

Decomposition of emergent macrophytes in lacustrine wetlands may take from about 200 to 1000 days for 90 percent weight loss (Hill 1985). Breakdown rates (per day) range from 0.0008 for woody plants in bogs to 0.0190 for non-woody plants in riparian wetlands (Webster and Benfield 1986)

I'll try to update later with more thoughts, but this is a good enough starting point to post.

 Folland, C.K., T.R. Karl, J.R. Christy, R.A. Clarke, G.V. Gruza, J. Jouzel, M.E. Mann, J. Oerlemans, M.J. Salinger and S.-W. Wang, 2001: Observed Climate Variability and Change. In: J.T. Houghton, Y. Ding, D.J. Griggs, M. Noguer, P.J. van der Linden, X. Dai, K. Maskell, and C.A. Johnson (eds.). Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment
Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge, UK, and New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

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What kind of mushroom is this in central Europe?
I found some mushrooms in the forest and I'd like to know what kind it is, for being able to tell how to protect the trees from it.
Growing Info
growing location: central Europe, forest
host plant: beech tree, alive
season: late Summer (Sept. 15th 2020)
The area where the mushrooms were found is a typical beech forest with unusually low water levels, as the last few summers have been drier and warmer than usual. I presume the trees suffer more from these mushrooms because the trees are weakened due to the hot weather and little rain.
Some of the mushrooms dry out while on the host tree.
Picture Taking Conditions
The closeup pictures were taken at home. This was after transporting the mushrooms and storing them in the fridge for 2 days. They got a bit squeezed during this procedure.
Pictures
host tree:

host tree from below:

multiple mushrooms, pic A:

multiple mushrooms, pic B:

bright mushroom, pic A:

bright mushroom, pic B:

bright mushroom, pic C:

cream colored/older mushroom, pic A:

cream colored/older mushroom, pic B:

cream colored/older mushroom, pic C:

Based on the lateral stem, fan-like shape, and growth on wood, I believe these are Pleurotus or a closely related genus. Pleurotus are generally soft, while Hohenbuehelia are more rubbery (David Arora, Mushrooms Demystified, 1986). Telling the species definitively will be more difficult, though they do resemble P. ostreatus, which grows throughout Europe. A number of similar species are difficult to tell apart.

Fig. 1. Pleurotus ostreatus. source: iNaturalist
P. ostreatus is only weakly parasitic, which suggests to me that the beech may be already dying from the stressors you mention. A professional silviculturist would be able to make recommendations for forest management.

A professional mycologist would say: As a general rule, you need 4-5 identifiers of a non-confusable species to be safe. So rule 1/ Check if there are any species in your region that can be confused with pleurotus. Compare the size. Check the aroma, the cross section compared to pleurotus, and do a spore print color if you are not sure of yourself. Most people would say they are pleurotus to a very high degree of probability.


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What is the species of this strange insect?
I first saw this photo long time ago, and I still can't identify the species of this insect:

any idea of the geographic region it was taken?

I didn't see the date, time, and location on this photo when I first saw it. I also typed "long-proboscis fly" on Google, but there was no photos that match the species of this insect.

it's a kind of planthopper. I can't figure out which kind. And without geography, might be impossible. See: https://inaturalist.ca/taxa/877149-Thanatodictya-tillyardi/browse_photos

Looks to be in the family Dictyopharidae, a long  nosed planthopper.
This analysis is not absolute as there are exceptions.
There are two features to put it in Dictyopharidae and Fulgoridae. The (tiny) antennae are below the eyes, not between them; and the head has a big protrusion.
The pattern and placement of spines on the legs, and the pattern of veins on the wings would help to identify it to genus level.
A helpful resource is http://hydrodictyon.eeb.uconn.edu/projects/cicada/simon_lab/peet_pages/07_Bartlett.pdf
Picture is of Rhynchomitra spp. from Wikipedia.

You are more likely to get a positive response to your answer if you explain why your identification is correct. Specifically, please [edit] your answer to add discussion of key features that led you to this conclusion and supporting references or at least validated images. Without this your answer is indistinguishable from opinion. ——— You may also wish to consult the help pages for additional advice on [Answer] effectively on this site. Thank you!


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Why is Ibuprofen contraindicated in asthma patients?
So yesterday a patient showed up at the clinic with a massive swelling in his left face region. Upon examination it was found to be due to infected first premolar. Dentist recommended him to get the tooth extracted as the patient also had generalized attrition and abrasion. The patient was an asthmatic and diabetic on Ecosprin. The dentist while prescribing him medicines said that he won't prescribe him Ibuprofen as the patient was asthmatic. I have been looking for an explanation since then and Rang and DaLe have something to say about the isomers of COX enzyme. I am looking for a simple explanation.

Yes. Since am under observation at a dental clinic, it counts as a homework question for me.

More a personal medical question, but on-topic as it involves biological mechanisms of drugs, not advice on taking them (which you already have.)

Ibuprofen is an NSAID. So it acts by inhibiting COX (Cyclooxygenase) enzyme. What it signifies is that, if COX enzyme has been blocked, the PUFA (say arachidonic acid, here) will be converted to leukotrienes through lipoxygenase pathway.

Leukotrienes (LT) are of different types and have several target receptors; one of which is CysLT-receptors on bronchial smooth muscle. Once they are activated through LTD$_4$,E$_4$,C$_4$ , bronchospasm will occur. For asthma patients this is really fatal. So for them Ibuprofen is contraindicated.

Reference: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5072955/
Lo, P.C., Tsai, Y.T., Lin, S.K. and Lai, J.N., 2016. Risk of asthma exacerbation associated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in childhood asthma: a nationwide population-based cohort study in Taiwan. Medicine, 95(41).

Interestingly the patient insert for commercial ibuprofen doesn’t state this (at least not in such absolute terms): it only mentions that ibuprofen shouldn’t be taken if the patient has previously developed symptoms of asthma after taking it. That said, the RR in the cited study is quite impressive.

Understood. Thank you for explaining so well.


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What nocturnal animal sound am I hearing in the trees in Maine?
Every year, during late summer nights (usually around 9:00 pm) in Maine, I hear a noise coming from high up in the trees. The trees I hear it from are mostly maple or conifer, but where I live there are few trees that are not. It sounds like a cardinal's chirp (fourth sound down in link), but longer, scratchier, and lower pitch. The sound starts and ends abruptly. There are three to six chirps in a row from the same tree, and then silence for a few minutes. Sometimes I will hear it again after a few minutes from the same tree and sometimes from a different tree. The skies are usually clear when I hear it. No one else in my family can hear it. I live in a suburban area, but when I go to a more densely forested area I hear it more frequently. Does anyone know what this is?

I think this question might be better fit for The Great Outdoors SE. There might be some people there who are more familiar with bird calls than the people here in Biology SE.

@AleksandrH I did ask it there a few months ago, but no one has answered it.

Do you have a recording of the actual sound itself? 2. What time of night do you hear the sound? 3. Have you noticed what the weather is like prior to and during the time you hear the sound? 4. How high up in the tree is the sound?

What kind (i.e., species) of trees are you hearing the sound from?

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/maine-birds/nvlvEqggNjo

@theforestecologist That sounds like my situation, except the sound I am hearing is definitely not a spring peeper.

@IOWF ok so please answer some more questions or provide more info

Do you typically hear what sounds like one individual, or a couple "talking"  back and forth,  or does it seem like there are many making the sound?  If many, how many (dozens, 100s?) and do they overlap in making the sound?

@IOWF Did you want an answer to this question? You've neglected to provide additional necessary info (i.e., answering any of the questions proposed to you in the comments) for over a year now. I see you're still active on the site, so please respond if you're interested in getting a positive ID or if you have any updates. Thanks.

I have been hearing this sound all summer after dark, I live in southern Maine. I just got home from work (December 2nd) and I'm hearing it again. Must be something nocturnal to be out this late! (10:30pm) I will try to record it.

since you don't have a recording of the sound you might be better off on a birding site where thy will have samples of songs you can listen too, just going from your description it could be anything even a tree frog.

My initial guess (knowing almost no information) is that it's a Northern saw-whet owl (Aegolius acadicus). These owls live year round in Maine but also increase in number as some migrate from Canada through Maine for winter. You can hear their advertising song here.
Northern Saw-whet Owls have a distinctive too-too-too call -- an insistent series of whistled notes on roughly the same pitch, given at a rate of about 2 notes per second. Males calling to advertise their territory can be heard up to half a mile away. Other males respond with a softer, faster, lower version of the call.

Thanks, but its not the one. The noise I hear is similar, but scratchier and less frequent.

Darn. Ok. Please provide more info so that we can try to figure this out. Please answer my questions in the comments under your question.

You still deserve a +1 :)


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What is this mushroom attached to the terrarium with transparent cap and black strips?
I have a terrarium with something black attached to the glass with a whitish green stem. Can someone please help identifying this?
The terrarium is outside in the backyard and receives only direct early morning sunlight -- it's currently summer. Location: Melbourne, Australia.
Terrarium internal side:

Terrarium external side:

Update:
Another exterior picture from the terrarium shows better details from the transparent cap and the black strips:

you are giving your succulents way to much water and you are giving us too little information.

@trondhansen, what information can I provide more than the photo?

what research have you done to try to find an answer to what this might be,where do you live,what temperature is your terrarium,what type of light do you use,for how long has this been growing in your terrarium.

@trondhansen, I have done enough research to accept being ridiculed at this website. The terrarium is outside at the backyard and receives only direct early morning sunlight. Here in Melbourne is summer.

this is very usefull information for the one(s)answering your question,please edit this into your question.and you should know that every single site here on SE want all of us to do some research before we ask a question.

I think (I'm definitely no expert) that this is one of the genus Parasola (Psathyrellaceae), they used to be part of a group that are known as inkcap mushrooms, though I see that this has changed. What gives it away is the thin cap and being able to see  the ribs in the cap looking like the ribs in a parasol or umbrella. It could also be one of the closely related Coprinellus or Coprinopsis, but these seem to have a thicker, less umbrella-like cap.
There are a number of species, and without access to spores and a spore print it would be impossible to tell which species it is.

I am searching more and found a term "Concave Translucent Mushrooms". Still not sure.

@ar2015 When I use those terms (on a different computer and network to when I wrote my answer) all I get is Coprinus (inkcap group - which used to include the Parasola) and Parasola genera coming up.


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What animal is this? Caution, GRAPHIC!
One of my friends stumbled upon this half part of an animal. It seems lizard-like...I don't think I've ever seen a lizard that large, though. We live in Greece. Can you figure it out? Close-up and a zoomed-out version with the pavement in it for scale included (length was ~10-15cm / 4-6 inches).

this is very likely some type of skink a type of lizard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skink

My guess is the ocellated skink (Chalcides ocellatus).

 Credit: Adel Ibrahim ; Source: The Reptile database
The species is names for its black/white ocellated, or eye-like, patched scales, similar to the ones seen in you specimen. C. ocellatus also would match your size (15-30 cm) and your location (generalist, including rocky).
It is found throughout the Mediterranean including in Greece.
See other similar specimens from Greece here and here


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Eating possibly spoiled food in the fasted state - is it considered protective against the potential harm?
It is a known fact that the acidic environment in the stomach serves several purposes, such as providing suitable conditions for primary chemical digestion of food molecules and protection from certain kinds of infections which may be caused by bacteria taken in with the food - I'm not giving any specific reference, any basic gastrointestinal system physiology text will give this information and more.
My question relates to the latter role I mentioned above: about the stomach being most acidic when in the fasted state (i.e. the period between about 2 hours after eating and eating again).

This article describes a stomach pH of 1.7 in the fasted state and a pH level of 6.7 shortly after eating

My question:  If I'm about to eat food that is potentially contaminated by bacteria, would it be better if I wait until I'm well into the fasted state (i.e., very hungry) in order to minimize the risk of indigestion or any other adverse outcome of eating spoiled food? If so, would the reason be because my stomach is as acidic as possible in that state?


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White flower with spikes around base?

What type of flower is this?
Location : India

Where (country / region, ecosystem) did you find it? What is the approximate size? What did the rest of the plant look like (size, appearance of the leaves, branches, etc...)? What other info can you give us?

This does in fact look like the flower to the cactus species Selenicereus grandiflorus.

 Source: Wikimedia
According to "Indigenous Cactus biodiversity: A viable genetic resource to fulfill multiform needs under rainfed ecosystems"1, this plant is found in India:

Different varieties of the cactus are found in India which has immense ethnomedicinal value (Table 1). Selenicereus grandiflorus (with large sweet-scented night flowering flowers) and the Opuntia stricta are found in the wasteland as hedge plants

See here for a good image, and see here for a cool gif of one of these flowers blooming!

1. Rai, M., Singh, R.K., Sharma, P.C. and Singh, L.K., 2011. Indigenous Cactus biodiversity: A viable genetic resource to fulfill multiform needs under rainfed ecosystems.

This could be Selenicereus grandiflorus, the Queen of the Night.

Welcome & thanks for your post. Species ID answers should be accompanied by credible sources confirming that ID, a picture of the species from a credible source and background information confirming the species (geographical spread, habitat, ...)


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The heart of a Pigmy Shrew beats 1300 per minute then why is it so fast?
A pygmy shrew is such a small animal. Even with such fast heart beats their average life span is 1.5 years. So can we consider faster heartbeats to not be good for health?

Edit: I think for rodents in general, a short life span is preferable, since they are more along the lines of an "r-selected species". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R/K_selection_theory#r-selection

I think that if the the heart beats faster then it brokes down very easily. So, a medium heart beat is related with a medium life and etc.

There is a correlation between the heartbeat and the life expectancy as you can see below.

(source: medcan.com)
This relationship is not linear (the y-axis is on a logarithmic scale) and is negative, that is, the faster is the heart beat, the lower is the life expectancy. You'll note the outlier (human) that has a life expectancy that is twice as high as you wold expect from the regression. This shift toward the right is caused by medicine, food quality and hygiene.
Correltation vs causation
Note that correlation doesn't imply causation. Typically, you'll notice from reading the species names on the first graph that species that have a fast heartbeat (and therefore a low life expectancy) are small in size.Allometry  is the study of the relationship of body size to shape, anatomy, physiology and behaviour. You might want to have a look at the wiki page.

can we consider faster heartbeat is not good for health?

No! it is wrong to think from from those data that the shrew (that has low life expectancy and fast heartbeat) that if they were to have a slower heartbeat, they would live longer. This is wrong. Shrews have the heartbeat they need to have. If one shrew (due to a mutation or some environmental developmental effect) had a slower heartbeat, it would die very early.
In other words, such inter/species correlation doesn't tell anything about intra-species correlation. To reuse the example of the relationship between mass and life expectancy: Body mass and life expectancy are positively correlated among species (see above) but the mass at which life expectancy is maximized in humans is average. The below graphs shows the relationship between body mass and Relative Risk (RR) of coronary heart disease.

(source: revespcardiol.org)
Health ≠ life expectancy ≠ adaptation
Life expectancy, health and high fitness (biological sense) are three concepts that are eventually related but that are very different. While life expectancy can compare health in inter-species comparison, it makes little sense to compare health of different species. Note also, that natural selection may well favour short lifespan (as suggested by @RioSiv, you might want to have a look at life-history r/K selection theory).

Where are you getting the figures that the livespan of a dog is greater than 25 years? I wish this was the case, but it is unfortunately more along the lines of 10 to 12 years with larger breeds being shorter.

Sorry... missed the part about r/K... Deleted the other comment.

@AMR hum.... good point. Looking at the two figures, there seem indeed to have some weird values for life expectancy. They may consider the world records as averages very much depend on conditions/country. I don't know. The pictures were found on Google Image (there are tons of such graphs with the same crazy values for the dog). I am at home now, I don't have access to the peer-reviewed articles.

Can any one help me with my another question about lips ?

You should NOT use comments to attract attention to other posts. I know nothing about human physiology and can't help you with your lips question. If you want to increase your chances to get an answer you can try to motivate people with a bounty but you'll have to wait 2 days after the question has been asked to be allowed to use a bounty (more info here).


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Complete list of touch sensitive plants
I am not sure whether the word "touch sensitive" is precise enough. What I am looking for is a list of plants that respond to touch noticably  like Mimosa Pudica. I only know of Mimosa Pudica example. Is there any other such plant?

Venus fly-traps have three touch sensitive hairs which trigger closing.

Cuscuta could be an example.

Some of the plants that respond to mechanical stimuli:

Dionaea muscipula

'Venus’ Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) accomplishes one of the more spectacular thigmonastic movements resulting in a swap of the role of predator with animals (Simons, 1992). Indeed, Darwin referred to it as ‘one of the most wonderful in the world’ (Darwin, 1893). The specialized bi-lobed leaves with needle-shaped tines on the leaf margins are generally spread open as invitations to visitors. When an unsuspecting insect crawls along the ventral leaf surfaces and bumps into the three small trigger hairs (Curtis, 1834), intercellular electrical signals are generated (Burdon-Sanderson, 1873; Jacobs, 1954; Jacobson, 1965; Simons, 1981) and are thought to trigger differential enlargement of lobe cells (Fagerberg & Allain, 1991), resulting in trap closure in less than a second. Generally, multiple stimulations of one or more of the trigger hairs are required for a response.1

Drosera rotundifolia

Distinct touch-induced carnivorous behavior is demonstrated by Drosera rotundifolia, a species examined in detail by Darwin (Darwin, 1893). The mucilage on the ends of the Drosera's tentacles glisten in the sunlight (Fig. 2a,b) and give the plant its common name ‘Sundew’. Over 100 tentacles can cover the surfaces of its modified leaves. This showy appearance attracts insects, which upon alighting on the tentacle surfaces become trapped in the gluey substance. The tactile sensitive tentacles detect the presence and further movements of the insect as it struggles to be released. In response, neighboring tentacles bend towards the ones directly stimulated by the prey's presence.1

Utricularia (Bladderwort)

The Utricularia trap, attached via a stalk to the rootless plant body (Fig. 3a), is a thin-walled hollow sac with a watertight trapdoor. When the trap is set, the outer walls are concave and the chamber is under negative hydrostatic pressure. Various appendages, some with mucilage-secreting glands, have roles in luring prey to the trap door entrance and others near the bottom of the door are the touch-sensitive triggers. Small creatures, such as water fleas, are examples of those that fall prey to Utricularia traps.1

Mimosa pudica

Mimosa pudica, known as the sensitive plant, and some of its relatives are other well-known thigmonastic plants. A touch stimulation results in a very rapid folding up of the small leaflets composing the doubly compound leaves. Remarkably, the touch response is not restricted to the stimulated leaflet, but can propagate to all the neighboring leaflets of the leaf (Simons, 1981; Malone, 1994). A stronger stimulus, resulting in wounding, can elicit folding behavior at distantly located leaf petioles (Simons, 1981; Malone, 1994).1

Bryonia dioica

Elmar Weiler and colleagues have found that an increased level of octadecanoids, in particular 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid (OPDA), correlates with touch-induced Bryonia dioica tendril coiling (Stelmach et al., 1998; Blechert et al., 1999) and that OPDA, and related analogs that cannot be converted to jasmonic acid (JA), are sufficient to cause tendril coiling with physiologically relevant kinetics in the absence of a mechanical stimulus (Weiler et al., 1993, 1994; Blechert et al., 1999).1

Monstera (Vine)

The Monstera vine has an unusual technique for finding a host tree to climb. It travels by growing along the ground in search of the darkness of a tree's shadow; this movement towards darkness is called skototropism (Strong & Ray, 1975). The vine completes its journey when the vine apex senses arrival at the host tree by the resulting touch encounter. A dramatic change in growth direction then occurs. The Monstera vine begins an upward climb of its host tree (Strong & Ray, 1975), and leaf and stem development changes in anticipation of increased light and productive photosynthesis.1

Ficus costaricensis (Strangler fig)

The strangler fig (Ficus costaricensis) has a more sinister interaction with host trees (Putz & Holbrook, 1986; Putz & Holbrook, 1989). Roots of the epiphyte form grow downward from its host tree and, in addition to wrapping around the trunk, roots that touch each other fuse together (Fig. 5). As the roots continue to grow and fuse, they eventually encircle and prevent further growth of the host trunk. Further differentiation of the fig's roots result in such constricting pressure that it damages and eventually kills the host in a manner befitting its name. In this way, the strangler remains alone without competition from its former host.1

Catasetum (Flower)

Male flowers are poised to respond to visitors that contact antennae in the center of the flower by the release of stamen filaments held under tension by petals. The force by which a sticky disc with pollen sacs hits the chosen pollinator can be strong enough to knock a bee from the flower (Simons, 1992). This experience and the burden of the attached large pollen sac can be so traumatic that the bee will carefully evaluate potential future visiting sites and strongly prefer female flowers rather than the explosive male ones (Romero & Nelson, 1986). In this way, male Catasetum flowers may have evolved to compete for exclusive pollination rights of female flowers (Romero & Nelson, 1986).1

Arabidopsis

When Arabidopsis roots encounter glass barriers, gravitropism appears to be compromised and thigmotropism occurs instead. The touch-stimulated roots neglect their propensity to grow towards gravity vector and instead grow away from the perceived point of mechanical contact. The interaction of touch and gravity may occur at the subcellular level; touch can delay one of the earliest known graviresponses, the falling of starch granules in the root columella cells (Massa & Gilroy, 2003).1

References:
 1) In touch: plant responses to mechanical stimuli [Janet Braam]
 2) Thigmomorphogenesis: a complex plant response to mechano-stimulation [E.Wassim Chehab ; Elizabeth Eich ; Janet Braam]

It would be better if you define what you mean by touch in your answer.

then all flowering plants are responsive to touch by pollen.

Thanks. Its a great answer.  Do the Monstera vine and Arabidopsis root react noticably in realtime as Mimosa Pudica and venus flytrap do?


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What makes an E.coli an E.coli, genotype or phenotype?
According to this paper, among 61 strains of E. coli they studied only 6% of the genes are common in all. Which means that the overwhelming majority of the genes are not shared.
And wikipedia defines E. coli like this:

... is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus Escherichia that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms (endotherms).

Which is a phenotypic  definition. My question is: what defines E. coli as a species: its genotype or its phenotype?

This is actually a very good and frustratingly obfuscated question.

That's more like a morphological description. Pre-genomic microbiological classification relied a lot on serological and biochemical tests.

Related, but possibly not a duplicate: https://biology.stackexchange.com/q/68853/36466

"Which means that overwhelming majority of the genes are not shared." You forgot to say "by all". The vast majority of genes are shared by the vast majority of E.coli. Also, phenotype and genotype are the wrong terms for talking about a genome — they are used for individual genes, not whole genomes. So, obviously, before whole genome sequencing bacterial strains were defined by general characteristics as @WYSIWYG says. Your question doesn't seem to me to address a real problem. Rather it concerns semantics, which in biology are best ignored.

I think there's more than just a semantic question here, although indeed species definitions are a bit of an arbitrary construct to begin with, decisions have been made to call certain organisms E. coli and others not.

@David in my experience, genotype can refer to an entire genome, most often with regard to a virus, as in HIV genotype, HCV genotype, etc.

@WYSIWYG serological and biochemical tests were used, but definitive identification included morphological description, at least during my infectious disease training

@DeNovo — Sloppy usage. One should encourage the use of plain English when this suffices. I would add that the genotype/phenotype is/was used and useful in relation to mutation of individual genes.

@David it's not sloppy usage. It's usage you're not familiar with :)

Interesting paper.
"... This is because the molecular cutoffs for demarcating species have been calibrated to yield the species groupings already determined by pheno-typic clustering. The 70% cutoff for DNA-DNA hybridization was calibrated to yield the phenotypic clusters previously recognized as separate species, and the 3% cutoff for 16S rRNA divergence was calibrated to yield the species previously determined by DNA-DNA hybridization and phenotypic clustering. "
--What are bacterial species? , Frederick M. Cohan 2002

@AhmedAbdullah Can you please add the additional refinements to you question by [edit]ing it? It would be clear to everyone without having to scroll through the comments :)

The context for identifying E. coli is primarily clinical Microbiology, and in the clinical lab the identification is primarily phenotypic, based on various properties such as growth and morphology on selective media, Gram stain appearance, biochemical characteristics, etc - only under unusual circumstances is genetic testing done. The latter is problematic because of extreme genetic diversity within the species and some overlap with others (even other genera).
The problems with the notion of "species" in E. coli in the context of 16s sequencing, horizontal gene transfer, mobile genetic elements, plasmids, etc is discussed at some length in Quammen's recent book The Tangled Tree.
For now, phenotypic species identification is the norm, as illustrated by the "Nomenclature" guidance to authors of the Journal of Bacteriology, a publication of the American Society for Microbiology.

Surely both. Nowadays, with molecular technics avaiable with low effort, the typing is mainly done with genotyping. This can be done using the 16S rRNA gene, which is composed by hyper-variable regions, as reported in picture. This choice is justified because this gene is highly conserved into the bacterial phylum, giving perhaphs variation into some regions due to evolution. This concept is explained by the term "molecular clock" in evolutionary biology.

By designing specific primers (they already exists for more species) you could obtain only amplification by E.coli cells. This is just an example, exportable also to other bacterial species: by analyzing other conserved phenotypes for every strains of this species, is possible to do also some real-time PCR using other regions of the genome. Remember always that isolation and, by so, phenotyping is required while doing bacterial identification; the genotyping is the fastest and most accurate way to the first recognition step.

I happened to encounter a related problem recently in answering a question regarding a paper on virus classification. I am not a microbiologist, so this answer may be flawed, however it raises a point that I don’t think has been made in the other answers. I welcome corrections.
First, however, it is obvious that bacteria were identified many, many years before their sequences were available, and, as indicated in the answer by @Argalatyr, classification could only be on phenotypic characteristics. The imprecision of this is acknowledged in a statement in a 2000 review article by Dijkshoorn et al. ‘Strain, clone and species: comments on three basic concepts of bacteriology’:

“A species consists of strains of common origin which are more similar to each other than they are to any other strain.”

The paper I came across previously was by Bobay and Ochman (2018) in which they state:

“Members of a biological species are defined by their ability to exchange genetic material”

This definition — by its nature genotypic — clearly predates the DNA sequencing era. (In asexual organisms like bacteria, exchange of genetic material can occur by recombination of DNA.)
It should also be mentioned that this definition applied to bacteria does not require members of the same species to have the same number of genes (the concern of the question), only that they can recombine.
In their paper Dijkshoorn et al. go on to discuss current efforts to correlate what, I assume, is this accepted definition with DNA-based comparisons — 16S rRNA sequencing and overall DNA percentage identity.

“Recently, a comparison of DNA–DNA pairing data and 16S rRNA similarity data showed that strains with rRNA similarity less than c. 97% generally showed no significant DNA–DNA reassociation and thus belong to different species. Similarity >97% may or may not indicate close relationship. The use of this percentage as a rule of thumb has in many cases made rRNA sequencing replace the more cumbersome DNA–DNA pairing technique for the creation of new species. At present, either the 70% or the 97% rule is used to underpin most proposals for new species.”

The moral would seem to be that we have reached a stage where it is cheaper and easier to try to define species from DNA sequencing that to go into the laboratory and perform experiments to see whether they can exchange genetic material.

Recombination and other genomic information exchange is arbitrary as a criterion; apart from the dichotomy of sexual vs asexual reproduction, recombination is often a biological not species characteristic. For example, HIV packages 2 copies of its genome - perhaps explaining its rampant recombination, whereas hepatitis C virus (HCV) recombination is a remarkably rare event.
Ultimately, sequence similarity thresholds are arbitrary as well. Species definition is largely a convenience for humans, not an intrinsic biological grouping.

@Argalatyr — I thought it was evident from my answer that I regarded taxonomic distinctions as arbitrary human constructs. Perhaps we should both make this explicit. Both answers addressed the question of practice. Your answer stated that the ‘norm’ for species identification was phenotypic. I have never studied taxonomy (or indeed organismal biology) but my answer drew attention to papers that implied that a different — genotypic — criterion constituted the ‘norm’. I did not, and do not, claim that this or any other classification is absolute, only that it appears to be in use.

I think we're in agreement that genotypic classification is rapidly getting cheaper, but the criteria for discuss definition remain somewhat nebulous. I don't think that exchange or genetic information will stand up as a species definition for the reasons that I provided.

@Argalatyr — I think that is generally recognized. The original virology paper Of the other question was concerned with the problem of horizontal transfer of individual genes. And I’m the last person to wish to be involved in controversies regarding what is or isn’t a species.


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Ways to identify/distinguish individual coyotes?
Are there any methods to distinguish individual coyotes from a distance (with a binocular or telephoto lens)? Are there marks or patterns we could be looking for?
Similarly, if I have seen a coyote at the same location multiple times, what should I look for to see if it has been the same coyote?
I've been searching about it and only found ways to distinguish individual wolves.
Thanks!

Is there some reason you think the approaches that you found for wolves wouldn't work?

According to a colleague that dabbles in tracking coyotes and other mammals in the San Diego area, "it is difficult to do unless you see them a lot. People may do it based on color of the tip of the tail, chunks taken out of ears, or gender if you get a good look". Apparently people do this for mountain lions based on their tracks (morphology/size), see here and here.

The Wikipedia entry for subspecies of coyotes has a very useful chart here (click [show]) that gives a description, range, and other information for each of the 19 subspecies of coyotes. Since I presume you are from the California area, I would focus on the descriptions of coyote subspecies that could exist around your area, such as the San Pedro Martir coyote, which has "reddish summer fur and a short, broad skull" to differentiate among the various coyotes you many encounter. Generally, the coyotes differ in color, teeth, tail size, fur, ears, and other such factors. As for determining if you've seen a coyote already, I suppose there's no real way of knowing unless there is a unique marker on the coyote's fur or appendages that differentiates itself from the others; however, examining the coyote's scats and comparing them may be a viable option for this, but that would require you to examine close to the coyotes rather than from afar.

I don't think OP is concerned with subspecies of coyotes, but rather distinguishing individuals, the way one might differentiate and name wolves in the same pack even if they are all related. Accuracy is likely to be suspect, but for some species there are patterns of variation that can be useful for this.


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What’s the Difference Between Grass and Sedge?
What’s the difference between grasses and sedges? in terms of anatomy and classification.

Welcome to Bio.SE! What attempts to answer this question have you already taken? We ask that all question posters here attempt to search for an answer to their own question and explicitly indicate what research they've already done, what they learned, and what is still confusing or unknown to them. Our goal is not to simply be an answer site, but rather a site that promotes self-learning with some expert help along the way :). Please take a moment to edit your post with this additional detail, and it will likely be received more positively by our community. Thanks!

 Short answer
Sedges have edges, and they're in different families.
See Minnesota Wildflowers for a great summary with images.
 Long answer
Both are in the order Poales, but they are in different families:

Grasses = Poaceae (of the graminid clade)

Sedges = Cyperaceae (of the [non-monophyletic]1 cypirid lineage)

Some anatomical differences:

 Compiled using info from here and here

 Source: New York Botanical Garden

 Citations
 1. Bouchenak-Khelladi, Y., Muasya, A.M. and Linder, H.P., 2014. A revised evolutionary history of Poales: origins and diversification. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 175(1):4-16.

What is an "edge" in this context?

@Terdon see the stem shape. Sedges have triangular stems instead of round. Each face of the triangle is an "edge"


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How does the energy we get from food transform into mechanical motion at the cellular level?
I am curious how, food broken down into glucose powers the movement of proteins in our cells (e.g., in muscle fibers for example).
Is the thermal energy converted to kinetic energy somehow?
As a mechanical engineer, I am just trying to visualize how the energy is converted to mechanical motion at the cellular level.

https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/31323/how-is-atp-involved-in-muscle-contraction

I agree with a comment that your question is broad, but I think a good answer can be given anyway. That answer is essentially: ATP, Adenosine Triphosphate, also known as "the energy currency of the cell".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adenosine_triphosphate
This small molecule has three phosphate groups, hence the name, and energy is released when one or two of those are separated from the molecule (creating ADP or AMP, Adenosine Diphosphate and Adenosine Monophosphate). This energy is what thermodynamically allows most endergonic reactions in the organism. The phosphate groups can then easily be added back, recycling the components back to ATP. This mediator, "currency" allows energy to be transferred from chemical reaction to chemical reaction: a reaction that "creates energy for the cell" really regenerates ATP, which goes wherever and is broken down in reactions that "use energy".
See for example this textbook describing how the breakdown of carbohydrates produces ATP:
https://opentextbc.ca/anatomyandphysiology/chapter/24-2-carbohydrate-metabolism/
And I will recycle Bryan Krause's link in comments to a question about how ATP is used in muscle contractions, which I believe is the final step of answering your question:
How is ATP involved in muscle contraction?

Scope of this Answer
This answer attempts to summarize the principles involved in biological energetics, with only the most minimal reference to particular molecules or systems. It is directed at those approaching the subject for the first time, particularly from a physical science or engineering background.
Energetic processes in biology
Energetic processes in biology involve chemical energy — essentially the energy embodied in the chemical bonds between the atoms of molecules.
In considering biological processes involving energy transfer, it is usual to adopt a thermodynamic approach in which the change in (Gibbs) Free Energy is considered. Chemical reactions are energetically unfavourable if they involve an increase in free energy, but are energetically favourable if they involve a decrease in free energy. In reactions of the latter type occurring in isolation, the chemical bond energy is converted to thermal energy (heat). In biological chemistry, however, processes that involve an increase in free energy are made possible by ‘combining’ them with such energetically favourable processes so that, rather than being released (lost†) as heat, the free energy is used to achieve an overall negative free energy change.
Such a ‘combination’ of two reactions (generally termed ‘coupling’) is, in effect, a different reaction (or succession of reactions), although the overall free energy change is the same as the sum of the separate ones. The coupling  requires specialized protein macromolecules (enzymes), which actually participate in the reaction (naïvely speaking, direct the flow of electrons from one bond to another) and help lower the activation energy of the reaction that prevents it occurring spontaneously at ambient temperature.
The process of acquiring energy from food consists of a series of energetically favourable oxidation reactions that eventually result in the bond energy of the initial food molecule (carbohydrate, fat etc.) being used to form bonds in a ‘form’ that is useful to the cell for driving energetic processes. This ‘form’ is predominantly the phosphodiester bonds of a molecule entitled ATP, which not only has a high negative free energy of hydrolysis (which breaks these bonds), but for which a plethora of enzymes (and other proteins) have evolved that can facilitate the transfer of this bond energy to form bonds in other molecules.
This explains in principle how the energy from oxidation of foodstuffs can be used to sythesize other complex molecules required by the cell — chemical energy being both donor and recipient. What about the conversion of chemical energy to mechanical energy?¶ In general in these cases the hydrolysis of ATP is coupled to a change in conformation of a protein and its points of interaction with other proteins, resulting in their relative movement, as in the case of the actin and myosin components of muscle fibres. Proteins are molecules with three-dimensional conformations determined by the most energetically favourable combination of many non-covalent chemical interactions (mainly hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions). Often there exist alternative structures with only small difference in free energy, so that a change in structure (or the point of interaction with another protein) can be effected by coupling this (although energetically unfavourable) to the hydrolysis of ATP.

† Thermal energy generated by metabolic processes can not be used in the directed manner implied in the question. Its only use for the organism would be to maintain body temperature (and indeed the specialized brown fat cells exist for that purpose).
¶ The question refers to kinetic energy, a term that is not much used in biochemical energetics, except in relation to the random movement of molecules. Although a protein moving along a filament will, I suppose, possess kinetic energy (à la billiard ball) this is a consequence of the changes in interaction of molecules, rather than from a direct ‘cue stroke’ from ATP hydrolysis.

Beyond the Principles
To go beyond the principles, one must read the book, as it were, and get to grips with the molecules. In my original answer I gave links below to some relevant sections of Biochemistry by Berg et al. the fifth edition of which was then available on NCBI Bookshelf. This is no longer the case, presumably because the edition is 20 years old. However as a basic introduction for the cash-strapped student who is not going to specialize in biochemistry, a second-hand copy of this edition is generally to be had on ebay for the price of two cups of coffee. The relevant sections are:

Free Energy, chemical reactions and ATP
Thermodynamics of redox reactions
Enzymes
Glycolysis, the Citric Acid Cycle and ATP synthesis
Motor Proteins

I think the question is far too broad to answer in detail — the poster needs to read a book on biochemistry to understand the problem properly. But by confining this answer to principles, I hope to provide something of some general use. Suggestions for improvement are welcome.


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Unable to identify bug/insect in house
I am not able to identify this bug/insect.
I stay in Dubai and have been noticing this bug/insect in my apartment since a week now. It is so tiny that it's difficult to notice. The image below has been taken using a DSLR by placing it on a book page and cropped to more than 100% zoom.
I don't know the source, can feel it crawling on my skin and that's the only way to see it. One good thing is it cannot fly.
I went through all the questions about insect identification, but couldn't find any closest match for this. I also compared it to a book lice, but it's nowhere near to it.
I suspect it bites and leaves the skin itching with red spots similar to a mosquito bite.
Does anyone know about this bug if it is harmful, and how to get rid of it?

Hmm not a great picture. How small would you say it is? Do you have any pets or animals in the home? More importantly, do you have birds living in/on your home or any rodent probems?

Possibly related: Bug Identification: Tiny Bugs

@theforestecologist - Bingo! Thanks for the link. It is indeed nearest match to a Bird Mite. We don't have birds, animals or any pets at home. However, pigeons often visit our balcony just to be shooed away by us. Now will need to see how to prevent them from coming. Please post this as an answer, so I can mark it.


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Bedbug or psocid?
I’ve found a few of these tiny bugs on the windowsill next to my bed. Can anyone tell if it is a bedbug nymph, psocid, or something else?? I’m hoping it’s not the former!
Edit: They were very small maybe 1 to 2 mm

I edited your images to get rid of 99% of the empty area. Can you mention roughly how large these were? There were no identifiable objects in the photos to estimate a size from. Thanks!

See Insect identification - Is this a bedbug? and Questions about insects eating flour and living in the cracks of a wooden cutting boards for a comparison.

Also, please update your post with your geographical location (i.e., what city/country are you in?). All species ID posts should be as detailed as possible to ensure you receive the best and most accurate answer.


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Does anybody know which plant (or tree) is this?

Thus one has teased me a lot. This is just a small plantlet, the actual one went about 5 feet in height before we had to cut it. Whenever we cut it, it grew back within weeks. And soon small plantlets grew near it in a radius of about 3 meters. Today, we called 2 men to take off its root. They dug a hole about a foot deep and discovered that its roots had spread all across our garden. All the people we asked gave us different speculations of what plant it could be, but nobody was sure. Does anyone here know about it?
Data:

It has lots of thorns, even in its roots!
This plant is about 25 cm in length.
Its leaves are about 4 mm long and 1 mm wide.
A compound leaf is about 1.5 cm long.

Location: Northern plains region, India

Does it have branched thorns?

@Chris doesn't look like it. Though it has some thorn-like structure around the thorn, which is probably its covering.

It looks like albizia julibrissin

The plant scientific name is Prosopis juliflora. It is widely found in our country (India) which is a major problem because of its impact in agricultural land. It can withstand any harsh climate also.
Initially it was introduced to our country around 1950s to be used as firewood under drought situations. But later it became a major threat, since it absorbs as much as water (approx 4 litres of water to produce 1 kg of biomass) from the soil which spoils the cultivable land and also this plant grows very fast and spreads easily as weed which also causes a major problem to the underground water table.
The government also realised its mistake later, but still this is found in most of the places in our country, particularly in the southern part of India.
You can find further details from the below links:

https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Prosopis_juliflora.html
http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/43942

Nice answer +1 can you add some more details along with a picture so that I can select it as both correct and complete?

Is it the common thorn tree that plagues our cricket playgrounds? The bane and final purgatory of cricket balls.

it looks similar to an acacia.

@sundar Yes it is.

This plant, Mesquite, is a major invasive species in several regions in South America, here in Brazil it's widespread and competes with native plants, often causing the local exctiction of some native plants due to this competition. That's an attestation on how dangerous it is to introduce alien species in ecosystems. In Rio there's a natural reserve, the biggest in the city, it's called White rock state park (The Pedra Branca State Park), that has been basically destroyed by anthropic interference and introduction of foreign species in the environment, the park has a myriad of non-native species of plants, including Bananas and Coconut/Palm trees, all native from Asia, and animals such as dogs and squirrels. And of course Human. The Ecosystem has been heavily affected and unbalanced, many native species of plants and animals have disappeared from the region due to the competition with the foreign species, this particular plant is widespread. The water fountains that provide the main water body of the region, a huge river that supplies fresh water for the human populations of the city, have decreased significantly due to the human interferece in the environment, and deviation of the water springs' natural course. This ecosystem is a heavily damaged secondary succession case.
Most part of the atlantic coast of South America is comprised of the biome called [Atlantic forest][1], which is very rich in wildlife, the city of Rio is almost entirely comprised of the Atlantic forest biome, however a huge part of it has been destroyed by either deforestation for human occupation, or indirectly through the introduction of foreign species in the environment, that has created a huge instability in the ecosystem, many native species, such as the Jaguar, have gone extinct locally in Rio already. (See: WWF's report of endagered biome)
This map shows the location of the park, it's the biggest in the city and as can be seen it's near the rivers that supply water to the population.

can you add some references to your answer and potentially another picture for comparison? thanks for your efforts.

Vance L Albaugh Of course I can! I have edited the post providing some resources, but it says I need more reputation to post more than one link in this post so I can't put more for now.

Always Confused I'm indeed talking about this plant, it's widespread in this protected natural reserve, however I'm simply offering my personal experiece with the topic of this plant and other invasive species since I'm living in this city, I'm just adding something to the topic of this question that I though could be a good contribution to this topic, ecological succession caused by the introduction of foreign species to a biome


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What kind of larvae are these. Lots of them in the basement in the summer, crawling around on the floor and the walls
larvae crawl on basement floor.  Some are also found on the first floor of the house.  Lots of legs--I also thought they became "rolly polys"  but never knew for sure what they were either.

Welcome to Biology.SE! For identification questions please edit your post to: 1) include the location (e.g. country and region — the more specific the better), and 2) an estimate of the size of the creature. The location and size can be essential clues for identification. ——— If possible clear, closeup photos of the creature would be helpful. ——— Thank you for taking the tour — please also take the time to go through the help pages starting with [Ask] questions effectively on this site. Thanks!

"Lots of them in the basement in the summer, crawling around on the floor and the walls" Quick! get some head & shoulders :)

Those are not larvae, but adult millipedes. Myriopoda, Diplopoda. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millipede
Here is a good link from the U of Minnesota on common arthropods in the basement.
https://extension.umn.edu/insect-relatives/sowbugs-millipedes-and-centipedes


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What is this? I found it in tofino, Vancouver island

I'm wondering what this sea creature is that I found washed up on McKenzie beach in Tofino, Vancouver Island? It wasn't dried up or anything. I've seen hundreds before but I cant find anywhere on the internet what they are!


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How do communities relate to food webs?
I am a biology student who has just completed drawing a food web for class. As I was making it, I learned that a food web is the sum of all feeding interactions. My teacher associated food webs with communities, but I do not understand what the communities of a food web are.
How are communities related to food webs?

Tim can you add some information about your drawing? Also, where have you looked for this information already?

The Details
Ecological communities are groups of multiple (2+) species of either plants, animals and/or other organisms that interact in a unique habitat. More accurately (from Wikipedia and corroborated by Begon et al. (2006)), we can define an ecological community as an:

assemblage or association of populations of two or more different species occupying the same geographical area and in a particular time.

These organisms could be interacting in a number of ways:

As you can see, one or both species can be effected either positively, negatively or neutrally (not at all) in these various types of interspecific interactions.
I should note that a community doesn't have to contain all organisms within a certain habitat.

Sometimes we might limit our discussion of a community to a single guild or single trophic level. Other times we might use the terminology simply to describe two interacting species (either within or between guilds/trophic levels).

Really, "communities" are more conceptual "units" used to describe two or more interacting species. More accurately, it's an interaction between populations of 2+ species. In this way, community ecology is an extension of population ecology.

Food webs (i.e., a system of interlocking and interdependent food chains) are essentially summaries of the feeding relationships within an ecological community (Molles, 2010). In other words, they are focused strictly on trophic interactions. These trophic interactions are primarily concentrated within the (+,-) interactions between species. This means that the interactions that dictate a food web are going to consist mainly of consumption (predation/herbivory).

From University of Michigan (my emphasis):

Food webs are graphical depictions of the interconnections among species based on energy flow. Energy enters this biological web of life at the bottom of the [web], through the photosynthetic fixation of carbon by green plants.
Energy moves from lower to higher trophic (feeding) levels by consumption.

Example
An example of a community that does not qualify as a food web:

A community of plants includes just the plants that are competing in the same space and as a result make up (i.e., are classified as) some sort of vegetation type. These species are competing at the same trophic level and do not consume one another. This is classic ecological competition.

If we examine the trophic interaction between each of these plants with each of their sources of energy, each of their consumers, each of their consumers' consumers, etc. then we are talking about a food web.

Final Thoughts
So the term "community" is used generally to describe interacting species of organisms in a given habitat, while "food webs" describe a more specific aspect of a community -- the trophic interactions of the members of that community.

Of course, it could be the case that all species in a given community are represented in a food web, but this is not necessarily the case.

It could also be the case that not all species represented in a food web be part of the same community...

One could also consider food webs to be broader than a community because they can describe the trophic interactions of species/populations across communities. From this perspective, food webs "lie at the interface of community and ecosystem ecology" (Begon et al. 2006).

Citations:

Begon, M., C.R. Townsend & J.L. Harper. 2006. Ecology: From individuals to ecosystems. Fourth edition. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Malden, MA. pp 469 - 601.

Molles, M.C. 2010. Ecology: Concepts and Applications. Fifth edition.  McGraw-Hill. New York, NY. p. 544.

I give up :-) +1


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Curious on the species of a large Orange Spider?
Heres the images of her:

She just laid a large yellow fuzzy sack of babies recently (Were pretty sure were just going to deposit her and her eggs in a grove in the forest soon)
We have lots of brown recluses here in North Carolina, but no idea what she is.
Climate: Humid, Tropical.
Zone: Sneads Ferry, North Carolina, United States.
Size: About 1.5 Inch, leg spans are about 1 inch on their own.

Related: Spider Identification Illinois


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Is this some kind of parasite crawling about in my yard?

I've been living in Jamaica 25 years now and never seen something like this until recently they started popping up around my house at nights by the dozens.  They appear to be blackish purple or maybe just black (I think my light has something to do with it), but I recall seeing a grey one once and longest one I've seen so far is about 3 inches long.

It looks like a terrestrial ribbon worm.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Terrestrial_Ribbon_Worm_%28Nemertini%29_%2822799575773%29.jpg
Nemertean worms are not leeches, but a different group of worms.  Most are marine but there are a few terrestrial ones.  This depicted worm is from Borneo and other terrestrial nemertean worms are from South Asia also.  But I have read that these can stow away in plants and are turning up in other parts of the world.  I found some small ones in San Diego that I thought were terrestrial leeches but were nemertean worms.
I would be very curious where you are in the world that big ribbon worms are partying in your yard.


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What type of bird is this?

Can someone identify this white colour bird?
Location: unknown (image taken from someone's profile pic).

Please comment about the location where you found the bird / where this picture was taken. Thanks.

From the picture, it looks like Cacatua sulphurea

[Source: Wikipedia]

The yellow-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea) also known as the lesser sulphur-crested cockatoo, is a medium-sized (approximately 34 cm long) cockatoo with white plumage, bluish-white bare orbital skin, grey feet, a black bill, and a retractile yellow or orange crest. The sexes are similar.[Source]

Habitat and ecology:

It mostly inhabits evergreen, deciduous, monsoon and semi-evergreen forests.
It nests in tree cavities or a pre-existing hole made by any another species.(Nandika et al.)
Observations made on Masakabing Island suggests that it's favourite diet include male fruits of Artocarpus communis, flowers and fruits of Cocos nucifera, Young leaves and flowers of Ceiba petandra, mangroves and male fruits of Brassus sudaica.(Metz et al.)
It mostly nests on C. nucifera, A. communis, C. petandra, Tamarindus indica and Avicennia sp. (Nandika et al.)
[Source]

Why it is not Cacatua galerita?

The plumage is different and the skin around the eyes are more white. [Source: In description part]
In the picture of the OP there is a blue ring over the eyes and it is also known as blue-eyed cockatoo. [Source: In the description part]

I don't know where the OP's photo was taken, but I assume it is a pet bird. The yellow-crested cockatoo is classified as a critically endangered species, so it's rather unlikely someone would own it as a pet.

@adjan But from the plumage it still looks like Cacatua sulphurea

I would say it's a sulphur-crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita). It is a quite common pet bird.

Image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cacatua_galerita_Tas_2.jpg


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What kind of fish is this? Spotted or largemouth?
I don't know if this is a weird looking largemouth bass or a spotted bass. It was caught in southern Oklahoma. Please help! Thanks.

Where did you catch this? (state, body of water, type of water, etc.). If you can, please provide a map showing the general location of the body of water. Adding as much info as possible to a species identification question is a must.

Thank for the tips, I'll keep them in mind next time I need help identifying a species and thanks for your answer!

This looks like a spotted bass (Micropterus punctulatus).
Here's an image showing some quick differences between some common bass species:

Using the above photo and this source to guide our judgment we can see your specimen appears to:

Have a jaw that does not go posterior to the eye (as it otherwise would in a largemouth).
Have rows of pigment towards its ventral side (below the "lateral line").
Not have the typical darker horizontal line of scales characteristic of the largemouth bass .
Have smaller-sized cranial scales (those around the eye) characteristic of the spotted bass.

If you can provide additional pictures of the following, I can provide a more definitive ID:

Both dorsal fins -- if the 2 dorsal fins are connected, it would further suggest a spotted bass (as largemouth bass dorsal fins are not typically connected)
Tongue -- evidence of a tooth patch is more likely on the spotted bass.

According to the International Game Fish Association:

Spotted bass can be found throughout the central and lower Mississippi basin to the Gulf of Mexico (from Texas to the Florida panhandle), including Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky and other nearby states where it occurs naturally or has been introduced.

It was caught in southern Oklahoma

And I remember checking the tongue and it was rough, I just wasn't aware that this lake had spotted bass. Thanks for answering my question this is a new species for me!


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Are there venomous plants?
There certainly are poisonous plants, but I was wondering, whether there are venomous specimen, too?
First, I thought the stinging nettle could be one such. After all, it's common knowledge it "applies a toxin upon touch". However, reading about the mechanics it seems that the injection is actually a much more passive procedure, which would render the plant poisonous, wouldn't it?
So what are some venomous plants?

By venomous, do you mean plants with parts, such as leaves or thorns that sting you with a toxic substance if you touch or get pricked by them?

Yes, venom typically uses some form of injection, and doesn't need to be eaten to harm or kill you.  The gympie gympie tree uses silica tipped hairs to put a toxin into your flesh, much like how jellyfish do.  This tree is naturally found in Australia, because of course it is.  But it isn't only australia.  Stinging netals, definitely, and poison oak debatably are also venomous, since you don't have to eat them to take some form of chemical harm.


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Is the prostate problem unique to humans?
In human males the urethra goes through the prostate rather than around it, which tends to create problems for older men as the prostate enlarges. Is this only a human problem or do other animals, primates in particular, have the same problem?

Asking 'why' question in light of evolution is not a good idea !

The main question is 100% factual, and there may well be a sound scientific reason why the urethra goes through rather than round the prostate. Evolution is so central to biology that I totally disagree with Dexter's objection.

I think Dexter's objection is valid. Everyone who misunderstands evolution wants to know why we haven't evolved: wheels as lower limbs, wings to fly, bodies like fish, four legs, to not feel pain, etc., etc. (These are real examples.) Evolution is not directed by an intelligent process. "Why did...?" is a much better question than "Why didn't...?"

Dogs get benign prostatic hypertrophy, so, yes, other animals (in fact most old male dogs, so that would mean a whole lot of other animals) do get BPH.

The most common conditions affecting the canine prostate include benign prostatic hyperplasia, prostatitis, prostatic cysts, and prostatic neoplasia.

However, you're almost correct.

[T]here is no risk for prostate cancer in any other aging mammal except the dog.

Though this article addresses cancer, the same appears to be true for BPH.
The prostate and breast appeared at the same time with the origin of mammals (possibly as long as 195 million years ago). While all male mammals have a prostate, seminal vesicles only appear in  primarily herbivorous species with the exception of man. The human male has seminal vesicles and consumes meat. Thus, it has been postulated to be a dietary cause. Bonobos, on the other hand, exist primarily on a high fruit and vegetable diet. They don't get BPH.
It isn't known what dogs ate before domestication (were there 'dogs' before domestication?) But it's postulated that ~10-15,000 years ago, humans (and their newly domesticated partners, dogs) dramatically altered their diets, breeding animals for food.
Why haven't we evolved a solution? Well, on the one hand, if BPH is only 15K years old, that's only a fraction of a blink in the human evolutionary scale of things, so not enough time to "evolve" a way around it (maybe reroute the urethra?)
On the other hand, we have. We've evolved medications and surgery for treatment of prostatic hypertrophy.
Similarities of prostate and breast cancer: Evolution, diet, and estrogens
New concepts in tissue specificity for prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia

I love your two answers to the why question!

Why prostate surrounds urethra? The human prostate has different zones that form separately in the embryo from the urogenital sinus, but later fuse. The mouse "prostate" is actually several separate glands that remain distinct. Although there has be a temptation to associate specific humane zones with specific mouse types of prostate, the current feling is that this is not fully supportable. Why the human zones have fused remains unclear. See: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4968575/
Regarding evolutionary pressures: In order for a trait to be selected against, it needs to be "active" or forceful during the period of reproductive activity. That's not the case for BPH. It occurs mainly after the time of typical procreation for humans in pair bonds. There are very few societies in which 60+ year-old men are a "reproductive" force. Furthermore BPH is not fatal, so even if we older men were actively engaged in siring more offspring, we could still be doing so into our 60's and 70's.


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Term of the type xxx-troph for a compound not used by an organism

A prototroph for compound X can make it
A bradytroph grows faster if X is scavenged
An auxotroph needs to scavenge X
A hyperauxotroph lacks both the biosynthetic pathway and the transporters for X

However, I cannot find the term for when the metabolism is rerouted to not need that compound. A term exists and it isn't with an obvious prefix like para, exo, ecto, juxta or similar, but that is as much as I recall: I cannot recall it or where I read it. Has anyone ever encountered said term?

Perhaps you're looking for the word mixotroph?

A mixotroph is an organism that can use a mix of different sources of energy and carbon.

In other words, as stated by Schoonhoven (2010):

The capability of one organism to be autotrophic and heterotrophic at the
same time.

I was thinking in terms of artificially "biotin-independent" bacteria, where the requirement for biotin is circumvented. However, a different group made it first and they simply used the word independent.
Using a different example, E. coli is ascorbic acid-independent (GSH acts as vitamin C), it is auxotrophic for B12 (combalamin), but it is prototrophic for methionine (as it has both routes).


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Do the posterior legs of mosquito plays the role of antenna?
I have had this question for years and this stems from the observation that when I bring my hand close to a mosquito lying on some surface (e.g : wall) I see its posterior legs - which are in a strange posture then (going upwards - moving slightly toward my hand...
I wonder whether these legs have another role than standing ? Correct me if I'm wrong but in my humble knowledge some arachnids have the front pair of legs endowed with sensory function ,so is it a similar case with mosquitoes ?


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help identifying marine item found on beach
Need help identifying this hard waxy egg like item found on beach in Destin, FL (USA).  It feels waxy and semi hard. Also smells like squid or real fishy. it is also semi transparent with dark tan looking tie on inside

Larger versions of pictures shown below:

Please [edit] your post to include the approximate size and any additional relevant info. Thanks.

You've found a swim bladder. Swim bladders are largely made from collagen, so when they're dried out on beaches they feel tough and rigid.
Swim bladders differ in shape between species. As an example, the swim bladders of oyster toadfish are similarly-shaped to the one you have found, but that general shape isn't uncommon, so it could have come from many other species.


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Non specific band in EMSA gel?
I am doing EMSA with Thermo LightShift Kit. I have a 150 bp biotin labeled probe which has been PCR amplified, gel eluted and sequenced. When I load samples on 5% native polyacrylamide gel, I see a non specific band in my control and samples along with suspected shift. Can anybody please help with an explanation of this band and possible troubleshooting?
Image Details:
Lane 1 and 3 are controls rest are samples

My binding reaction has HEPES ph 7.9, KCl, DTT, Glycerol, MgCL2, Poly (dI.dC) and NP-40
Lane 1 and 3 are my negative controls ie binding reaction mix + labelled probe
Rest are binding reaction components mix + probe + nuclear extract
Nuclear extract was made using Thermo NE-PER kit
Thanks!

Can you provide more details on what your controls and samples contain? Are they positive or negative controls? Have you run DNA-only?

My binding reaction has HEPES ph 7.9, KCl, DTT, Glycerol, MgCL2, Poly (dI.dC) and NP-40 Lane 1 and 3 are my negative controls ie binding reaction mix + labelled probe Rest are binding reaction components mix + probe + nuclear extract Nuclear extract was made using Thermo NE-PER kit.

You could try running your probe on a gel by itself to make sure it only contains one species. Your labeling may not be uniform. You could acrylamide gel purify it before running your EMSA if it contains a secondary band. This should make the assay cleaner.

I did run just the probe and did not see this extra band. I ran the probe without poly (dI.dC) too and did not get any band as well. I am only get this when I run the probe with all components of binding reactions. I ran them alone without probe too to rule out contamination. Do you think it might be due to poly (dI.dC)?

Yes, my guess would be that your probe is non-specifically binding with the poly (dI.dC). You can probably eliminate this by playing with the salt concentration, adding 1% DMSO, or adding more detergent to your buffer.


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strange creature
We live on the Gulf Coast in Corpus Christi, Texas. There was a big thunderstorm that dumped several inches of rain at our home. We live about a quarter of a mile from the bay.
My daughter found it in a shallow puddle on the sidewalk. The creature is about 2-3 inches and about as big around as a pencil. Not sure where it came from or what it is, any ideas?

Welcome to Biology.SE! I suspect this could be part of a plant rather than an animal. Did you see any sign of movement from the organism? Were there any flowering plants in the vicinity?

I agree with tyersome, it has green on it and it looks like a root from a plant. There are water animals with tails charmingly called rat-tailed-maggots, which are hoverfly larvae, although they are different.

you should take it home and plant it in a semi submerged soil and see what grows from it. probably a small plant that flowers.

It is a penis worm!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priapulida

Priapulida (priapulid worms, from Gr. πριάπος, priāpos 'Priapus' +
  Lat. -ul-, diminutive), sometimes referred to as penis worms, is a
  phylum of unsegmented marine worms. The name of the phylum relates to
  the Greek god of fertility, because their general shape and their
  extensible spiny introvert (eversible proboscis) may recall the shape
  of a penis.

I am not positive, but you are close to the Gulf where these live, and maybe the weather swept some up from the bottom.  If that is what it is, it would need a seagull to drop it or some kind of Fortean rain to get any distance from the beach.


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What are these little bugs?
I recently found at least 50 of these little bugs roaming around my window  sills indoors in my bedroom right behind the head of my bed. I can’t seem to find what they are. I’d love tips on what they are or how to get rid of them. They’re extremely small probably no larger than 1 mm. I tried vacuuming them away but I still see plenty of them.

Welcome to Bio-SE! Where is your window sill located? We require a where and when component to all species-ID questions. A size estimate and slightly better pictures would also be useful.

Related: Help identify this mite?, Bug Identification: Tiny Bugs, Tiny white very hard cell bug! Please help to identify!

These are very likely mites (notice their small size and 8 legs). Based on their size, appearance, and abundance, I'd guess they're bird mites (family Macronyssidae). Since they're near your window, I assume you either have a bird nest outside your window or frequent bird visitors to your window.

 Credit: user Aewills on bugguide.com
you can find existing posts about bird mites on Bio.Stackexchange below:

Help identify this mite?
Bug Identification: Tiny Bugs
Tiny white very hard cell bug! Please help to identify!


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How could you measure the rate of light reactivity/ photosynthesis of a cell in a lab setting?
For a lab I must take Volvox protist cells and expose them to specific wavelengths of light. How would I know they're even reacting? The assignment I've been given does not explain what I should even be looking for. I know that they do photosynthesis, so I was thinking of looking for signs of photosynthesis occurring, but I have no idea how to tell if even that is happening.

What are the inputs and outputs of photosynthesis? How could you detect a change in one of these? How might the appearance of, say, one of the products product appear in the watery environment of Volvox?


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Accurate surveys of urban pigeon and bird populations
I've been working on an assignment to develop mathematical models of urban pigeon populations. (As a disclaimer, this is part of a math course, not a biology course). I already understand the mathematics behind this and have developed several plausible models, but I'm at the stage where I need more detailed data in order to validate my models.
It's surprisingly difficult to find accurate population dynamics data for urban pigeons (especially given my inexperience with this kind of a literature search and general "unsophisticated" understanding of biology).
I do have access to some journals (e.g., via my university library, Google Scholar and Amazon.com), but the best resource I've been able to come up with so far is Illinois Birds: A Century of Change (published by the University of Illinois). The books on urban bird populations I've found so far all seem to be targeted to bird watchers (which I'm not).
Is anyone aware of a detailed/accurate data set on population dynamics (either of urban pigeon populations in particular or of urban bird populations in general)?

What kind of data are you looking for exactly? Spatial distributions, temporal patterns, population demographics, life histories, community data, behavior, etc. ??

@theforestecologist Primarily population demographics and trends.

@theforestecologist thanks for editing BTW, it's definitely an improvement (I'm still new to the field)

Everything I've ever read about pigeons complains about how poorly studied they are, so you may be out of luck

@iayork I was afraid of that. The best I've been able to find so far is general bird surveys that include attempts to survey the pigeon population (e.g. the study I found of birds in Illinois; that data seems pretty good but it's unfortunately really geographically narrow); is that the best I'm likely to do?

You can find population data for lots of species at The Global Population Dynamics Database, which can be used to test and fit population models. When searching for Columbidae (the dove family) I find 16 datasets of different lengths, but none for Columba livia though.
To search and download data you first need to register for a user account.

Thanks; out of curiosity, do you know why pigeons tend to be so poorly studied? It seems like the fact that they live mostly in urban environments (at least in areas like Illinois that mostly lack cliffs) would make them easier to study if anything.

I don't know, but I assume it's because familiarity breeds contempt. No one cares about pigeons, any more than you'll find people doing detailed surveys of Norwegian Rats.  It's unfair because (I've only recently learned) they are fascinating birds in many ways, but there just doesn't seem to be any interest in describing them.