Biology Weekly Newsletter - Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Top new questions this week: Why is 70% ethanol preferred for aseptic techniques? Are other concentrations (say 80%) less effective,or is this just for convenient manufacturing? Is the concentration chosen only because it is less volatile than 100 percent ethanol and hence safer? microbiology sterilisation   asked by CubeMaker 12 votes answered by AMR 11 votes Are some animals, like dogs and cats, color-blind and how do we know that? I have heard that some animals, including dogs, cats and donkeys, are color-blind. They cannot recognize any color. Is that true? And how can humans verify that animals are color-blind, or not? During ... evolution vision perception   asked by Roger L. 9 votes answered by bshane 13 votes Why black and yellow indicates danger? It is a pretty well-known fact that combination of black and yellow indicates danger or poisonousness. In western society it seems obvious this comes from bees and wasps, but the look to the ... entomology toxicology sensation psychology optics   asked by Probably 7 votes answered by TanMath 7 votes Where in the world does blue eyed whites originate from? I know that there were no blue eyed people until ~6000 years ago due to a mutation and all blue eyed people have a single common anchestor. But where in the world does it originate? I assume it ... human-biology human-genetics human-eye   asked by Stian OK 4 votes answered by David Blomstrom 0 votes How long can human tissue last without blood? I've heard it said various times that the body's tissues will begin to necrotize after being cut off from the blood supply for only a few minutes, but that can't be true. A few years ago, I woke up ... human-biology   asked by Mason Wheeler 4 votes answered by L.B. 4 votes Which class of animals constitute the largest biomass? I found here that species-wise it is cow. But, collectively, insects may exceed even mammals. So, which class of animals constitutes the largest biomass? zoology environment   asked by Archisman Panigrahi 4 votes answered by bshane 6 votes Which Darwin book (and today edition) is illustrated by his own drawings? I am interested in buying Charles Darwin books and mostly drawings (nowadays editions, I am not a collector). Please, can you advise in which book and which edition I can find the most of his ... evolution zoology literature-search   asked by maycca 3 votes answered by Mars 4 votes Greatest hits from previous weeks: Can dish soap really be used to kill ticks and fleas? An answer at Pets suggested using dawn dish soap to kill fleas. I did a little looking around, and found several references supporting the idea. Most of what I found was in 'selfhelp' and 'save a ... parasitology   asked by James Jenkins 7 votes answered by James Jenkins 9 votes Why do mammalian red blood cells lack a nucleus? How did the red blood cell in humans get to lose its nucleus (and other organelles)? Does the bone marrow just not put the nucleus in, or is it stripped out at some stage in the construction of the ... human-biology hematology   asked by John Smith 22 votes answered by EdoDodo 24 votes Can you answer these? What are the molecular/cellular basis of pruritus ? Could someone please explain the cells and molecules involved in the clinical phenomenon of pruritus ? I'm interested in a general view about the subject, but detailed answers will be appreciated. ... human-biology physiology   asked by MauroM 1 vote Argentine Ant Trails What is the maximum distance for an argentine ant (Linepithema humile) trail? I imagine that there is some point where the ants are unable to make the return trip either through exhaustion or from ... entomology ant   asked by nick 1 vote Understanding Illumina Adapters I am currently working on a project where I need to trim the adapters off of some single end read RNA-Seq data, and I want to know which sequences to cleave. Illumina TruSeq adapters were used. I ... rna-sequencing   asked by irritable_phd_syndrom 1 vote

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