Category: Biology

Nervous Tissue

Nervous Tissue

Nervous Tissue

09/22/26

“How do neuron cells form a complex communication network?”

Neuron cells are the gears that run our nervous system. But how do they coalesce into a greater communication system? Well, it turns out they and their glial cell protetcors make up a Nervous Tissue system that detects changes, funnel them to the appropriate place, processes it, and produces an appropriate reaction. To illustrate, if you touch a cold glass of water, your sensory neuron nervous tissue will alert you of the icy feel.

Muscle Tissues

Muscle Tissues

Muscle Tissues

09/20/26

“What makes muscles function?”

Complex animal bodies use movement to get around. Muscle Tissues are specialized groups of cells that can contract and relax to generate movement. Muscle tissues can be voluntary (controlled at will, such as a human moving their thumb) to involunray (heart pumping). 

Tissues (Biology)

Tissues (Biology)

Tissues (Biology)

09/19/26

“How can biological cells come together to perform a specific function?”

Biological cells are the building blocks of life. However, they cannot do much by themselves. But what if they were to work together to perform a specific function? Well, these come in the form of Tissues. Tissues are one of the core parts of body functioning and serve as an intermediary between cells and organs.

Image credit: https://www.registrypartners.com/

Net Primary Productivity

Net Primary Productivity

Net Primary Productivity

07/13/26

“How do we quantify the rate of new biomass by photosynthesizers after accounting for keeping themselves alive?”

Primary productivity measures the rate of new biomass growth by photosynthesizers. However, these organisms will need to use some of the energy they receive from the sun to keep themselves alive. Consequently, these organisms will only have the Net Primary Productivity, or biomass growth rate, accounting for the energy used to keep themselves alive. Photosynthesizing organisms use the former to grow themselves, and the latter to sustain themselves.

Trophic Levels

Trophic Levels

Trophic Levels

07/12/26

“How can we define an organism’s food chain position based on its energy level?”

Organisms at the bottom of food chains use primary production to gain biomass, while those higher up use secondary production. The higher up the food chain you go, the lower the energy potential there is. Ecologists have termed the food chain level an organism is at by their potential energy as their Trophic Levels.

Secondary Productivity

Secondary Productivity

Secondary Productivity

07/11/26

“How can we quantify the rate at which ecological consumers create new biomass?”

Biomass is the amount of mass that exists within living organisms. Some organisms, like animals, fungi, and many microorganisms, consume organic matter to create their own biomass. Because this organic matter was not created by sunlight but by consuming other biological organisms, the rate at which the new biomass is created is quantified as Secondary Productivity. Secondary productivity is expressed in units of mass per volume per unit of time and conceptualizes how biomass is transferred from one part of the food chain to the next.

Primary Productivity

Primary Productivity

Primary Productivity

07/10/26

“How can we quantify the rate at which organic matter is created by photosynthesis in a given area?”

Certain organisms, such as green plants and algae, create organic matter/biomass from solar energy using photosynthesis. The amount of biomass created by photosynthesizing organisms in a given area per unit time is quantified as Primary Productivity. Primary productivity is the foundation of most ecosystems. 

Filter Feeders

Filter Feeders

Filter Feeders

05/20/26

“How can marine creatures eat using filtration?”

Water bodies can contain a vast supply of organic matter and microorganisms. Some marine creatures consume vast amounts of water and then filter it for organic matter and microorganisms to digest. These creatures, called Filter Feeders, are beautiful specimens that also clean the water bodies they inhabit. Filter feeders have a mighty range in size, from gargantuan whales to tiny krill.

Effective Half-Life

Effective Half-Life

Effective Half-Life

04/03/26

“How long does it take for a radeonucleotide to diminish to half of its mass in a biological organism?”

Organisms may consume radionucleotides. The radionucleotide will lose mass to both radioactive decay and biological absorption. We can find the Effective Half-Life of the radionucleotide through the equation 1/(half-life_effective) = 1/(half-life_radiation) + 1/(half-life_biological).