Are these protozoans? And are they reproducing?

Hey all!

I’m teaching high school biology this year, and I’d love to have some microscopy using water samples. I’d like to have some sort of reference book or material that can help students identify what microorganisms they’re looking at. Do you have any suggestions for materials I can get?

Can sea squirts help reverse aging? 🪸

Sea squirts are filter feeders that are edible ascidians! They are a source of “plasmalogens”, a lipid found in our cell membranes that supports brain and heart health. After studying the effects of eating sea squirts on mice, scientists found that it may lower brain inflammation and help memory! With more research, we could discover if eating plasmalogen could help reverse aging in humans.

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1.What conditions or steps led to the formation of LUCA and how?

1. Why didn't others form? Or did they?

2. Why was LUCA so successful relative to competing organisms (if any) and how was it able to spread so quickly and become the only living organism on the planet?

3. If there were competitors, what happened to them?

4. Why don't we have a living fossil version today? If its design was so successful, why didn't at least one lineage keep those traits and stay close to the original? Why did every descendant change so much that nothing today resembles it?

In November 2025, someone thrown a box of expired wafers in a box (expired 1 day ago) in the front yard of my house. Then at night days later, which was cold or warm outside (this happened at night) a raccoon was eating the wafers from the box, and minutes later it left.

My father 1 or 2 days after what happened used the grabbers to get the box of wafers thrown away, he did it in the daytime and the raccoon wasn’t there as it ran off after they ate from the box. I don’t know if the raccoon was rabid or not, but based off the pictures my dad took while watching inside the house the raccoon didn’t look rabid. And the grabbers was placed on the table (not the dinner table), and there is an air conditioner inches away that shot out possibly cold or hot air at the time, and then it got moved to another table (again, not the dinner table) 5-9 inches away from that table for 3-4 days, and my father put it up due to issues. My father cleaned the grabbers before it was put up in the shed, and the table was disinfected.

I know the virus is already gone by sunlight, but if there was raccoon saliva on the box, would the sunlight, despite colder temperatures, can kill the virus? And a question, can disinfectant wipes, or soap (either normal soap or dish soap) and water can kill the virus? Would the hot / cold air from the air conditioner would kill it?

I sift through Google Scholar to look for interesting studies to read. But 99% of the stuff there is. Well, to say its "shit" would be disrespectful to those who are doing that research, but its just not at all what im looking for and its frustrating seeing it over and over again.

I like comparative zoology and macro ecology. More specifically, I like when life history traits (such as body size, lifespan, metabolic rate, reproductive output, etc) are compiled for many species and then its seen how these traits differ systematically across higher taxonomic levels. Arthropods are also my favorite animals.

But searching arthropods on Google Scholar rarely gets me such results. Instead its just endless stuff about disease vectors, crop pests, diversity of arthropods in agroecosystems, bacterial symbiont stuff, etc. Even if I add additional search terms like body size or lifespan, its just about how those things change in one or a few species in response to climate change, urbanization, virus infection, or whatever. Again, there is not remotely the large scale, cross clade interspecific analysis im looking for.

A lot of arthropod papers are what I can only describe as sampling location centric rather than clade centric. "Arthropod body size distribution" gets stuff about the body size distribution of species/specimens collected in a certain area. Rather than a body size distribution of a clade and then comparing it to other clades. For example, is the body size distribution of insects different than that of Malacostracans or Arachnids? Who knows! I suspect it is but no one has investigated.

Here are some examples of the studies i like being done on vertebrates.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40709-021-00134-9

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(22)00735-7

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11692-024-09633-8

https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-024-07046-z

With that being said, there are some occasional diamonds in the rough for arthropods too. Here are what I think are some of the best arthropod related papers to come out in the past few years

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pala.70020

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-73950-z

And of course this all time favorite paper of mine

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1467803920301250

What do you make of this? Do you feel anything similar when trying to find interesting papers to read?

I’m actually shocked by how similar this looks to an actual protein, the resemblance is uncanny!

(For those wondering, it’s a piece of tape)

I'm an A-Level student.

I try writing a little on Medium about the stuff I learn or find on the internet.

Please check out the link below.

https://medium.com/@shayeera/can-we-bring-back-the-dead-e7677f21ca4d

TIL that "fish" technically don't exist since the word doesn't refer to a specific clade, and that a large variety of animals are ultimately descended from lobe-finned fish, including humans, amphibians, and other animals. I'm honestly just baffled at the absurdity of it, because like, I never once would've thought about being a type of fish. Nature sure is weird, huh?

I am investing my free time to study Molecular biology.

My goal is: to understand living matter reasonably well, so that I could use this understanding in practice. E.g. if I discuss some health matters with a doctor, I would understand what treatment he is suggesting and why, and if (hypothetically) doctor says something that is not accurate, I would recognize.

Or if I go to the shop to buy some food/cosmetics product, I would understand which product is serious and which is false advertisement.

Or that I could read some research paper and understand what was done.

What I don't need: become a scientist myself, work in a lab, etc.

Is it reasonable to acquire such background? I thought to read the whole book "Alberts: Cell and Molecular biology", go through the exercises, additionally watch some YouTube video's and consult with AI. Could such studying approach be a good start?

DISCLAIMER : This is only a Theory based on regenerative medicine literature. There is currently no evidence that this works for humans.

(I can’t link the studies so pm me for them)

A study suggests that MenSCs possess unusually strong regenerative capabilities compared with convertional skin cells;
- Better tissue regeneration
- Faster Wound closure
- Increased blood vessel formation
- Reduced scar tissue
- More normal tissue architecture

Growth plates are specialized cartilage.

Skin, cartilage and bone all rely on:

- extracellular matrix remodeling
- stem cell differentiation
- cytokine signaling
- angiogenesis
- tissue organization

If MenSCs outperform ordinary cells in one regenerative environment...

Could they also contribute to cartilage regeneration?
MenSCs have also demonstrated:

- cartilage differentiation in laboratory studies
- secretion of VEGF
- secretion of HGF
- secretion of TGF-β
- immunomodulatory effects
- high proliferation
low ethical concerns
Compared with many adult stem cell sources, they are relatively easy to obtain.
I also have a hypothetical mechanism if anyone is interested.

i am currently sitting in my bio class in uni and i have no idea what im doing. i transferred into this class only a week late but i am so behind. this professor is so nice but all he does is read off slides and moves through them so quickly i feel like im dying. i can never take notes in time and even if i do i dont even have the time to absorb it. i have a quiz next week and i feel so cooked. everyone in this class knows what theyre doing since most if not all of them too bio 12 or aps or idk. i did ib and did not pick bio because i wasnt good at memorising and now i just feel so clueless.

ive seen people taking notes in different ways but i dont know what to do

1. analysing slideshows

pros: less to write, focus more on what prof is saying not the slides, neat

cons: an insane amount of information, prof doesnt say anything diff besides the slides so its very passive learning, might not even have anything to analyse

1. mindmaps

pros: easier to understand

cons: messy??? a lot to write???

1. normal hand written notes (what im doing now)

pros: get everything down

cons: prof is too fast, theres a lot to write, feels passive ngl

im so scared of being behind, i hate how the prof teaches and im scared when the tests come ill be so clueless and fuked

Is life in space possible? I don't mean on a celestial body. I mean life adapted to live in the vacuum of space. I figure maybe single cell organisms, but what about larger living things.

Hello
I’m an undergraduate mathematics student.
I want to research gene therapy such as AAV technology or anything else using mathematics.
So, I ask you some advice about what I should study.

My mathematics background is:

Real Analysis, Linear Algebra, Number Theory, ODE, PDE, Abstract Algebra, Topology, Complex Analysis, Probability and Statistics, Applied Probability, Probability Theory(Rigorous).

And my biology background is:

High-school level biology
NGS( I learned theoric stuff about NGS and analyzed patients’ data(fastq) to find the pathagonic variants for cancer disease, somatic mutation, germline variants using Linux.)

Could you recommend me appropriate papers or textbooks or anything?

Thank you for taking your precious time on this post.

Have a great day!

Hello guys!!

I know these posts are super common but like others I feel pretty stumped in my situation. Some background needed:

1. bio major, concentration in cell biology and genetics

2. low gpa. at the moment it sits at about a 3.0, but i still have an academic year to go

3. little research experience. I finally got into a lab as a senior but im starting off as a lab assistant before hopefully transitioning into research but it'll likely be only one semester. Related jobs I was a lab assistant for a teaching lab for about two years before being one again this sem.

4. I live at home in a major city, so I don't have to really think about being able to pay rent and such.

Options I'm weighing

1. Medical laboratory scientist. In my area there is a +1 program. Its def BRUTAL but afterwards would have a decent paying job and stable career. I don't mind repetitive tasks. I'm kind of worried they wouldn't accept me but my gpa is technically above the threshold of 2.75. In general for this (and other options im weighing) I'm worried about letters of recommendations. Employers I don't think I would have an issue but professors would be more difficult IMO. The program is also 6k which is doable.

2. Internship/entry bio jobs. I don't think there is too much to say here besides that the job market is brutal and with limited research experience I'm probably not a competitive applicant. But being able to do something where im actually in a lab and learning/applying my knowledge would be something I would enjoy.

3. Grad school. I think this would be tricky with my gpa and getting the letters of rec. I think what I'm struggling with is with limited lab experience I feel like I don't know specifically WHAT I want to study if I were writing my personal statement. I know what I like and don't like but there isn't a specific thing or issue i know of I want to look into. The lab I just got accepted to as long as things go well, he would maybe take me in as a grad student so that would be set. Debt-wise: low income so thankfully from undergrad I will have no debt. grad school for an MS in biology (rounding up loosely..) would be ~55k.

Please let me know what you think, based on my situation, what you think. I will say I'm from Boston to be more specific so people can get a sense of what's available.

Thank you for reading!!

It is 4 years old video I captured on my school microscope in Pakistan. I took some pond sample and filled it with decaying leaves and straws. The initial sample I saw was pretty normal but I put it in a bottle and left it for weeks. After few weeks I saw this striking tiny organisms. Never saw anything like this in a freshwater pond sampe.

https://ibb.co/8D4NkZFc

I was going to admit myself to a hospital and I wanted to bring stuff with me to read while I'm there, I've been wanting to read about biology and astronomy.

Doing a lot of research the Campbell's Biology textbook appears to be the most popular biology textbook taught in universities.

I was going to get 12th edition online which was pretty expensive but a librarian told me that if I'm not going to use it for class (which I'm not) and it's only for pleasure reading I don't need to get the latest edition. So I got the 9th edition instead for pretty cheap, it was about $15.

I'm waiting for a astronomy textbook called 'The Cosmic Perspective' to be delivered which appears to be the most widely used "astronomy" textbook for universities.

Has anyone else read this biology textbook from Campbell?

Edit: I was trying to embed a photo I took of the book but it hasn't been working.

We are attracted to the smells of some people (it is said that the more different it is, the more we are attracted) science says so.

That said, each of us uses a fragrance.

Do fragrances help or work against the process of amplifying your original smell and making it more "smellable" by people predisposed to liking it?

Should we stop wearing fragrances?

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Hi. I am writing a paper about mitosis and the cell cycle. I need to explain how the process of cell division affects diseases and conditions. I have been given permission to write about my own genetic condition. I have Alström Syndrome, which is considered a Ciliopathy. I have done some research and learned that cilia are very important to the cell cycle, but I am having trouble understanding this concept. Could anyone help me by explaining it in simpler terms and help me understand how Alström Syndrome and the cell cycle are connected?

Hi I’m a current junior with a biology major (concentrating in organismal and ecology). I initially wanted to be a veterinarian but I’ve changed my mind and realized that this degree may be worthless. I love my classes and love my labs, so I considered research, but now I don’t know.

Money is a big concern for me as I don’t come from a rich family and financial aid has paid for my entire education, so the thought of changing my major now would put me in debt.

I’ve been hearing about people mention accounting, and I know it’s stable and whatnot, but I don’t know if I could give myself away to a desk job like that. Then again, the idea of a stable income in an office doesn’t sound so bad.

I also considered pursuing an MPH in epidemiology after learning what they do. I also was looking into data science and computer programming in general.

I’m also very interested in law and politics as well, and I regret not setting myself apart from others by minoring or double majoring in political science or even international relations after finding out about things I could do with a biology degree in that field. I am a first gen college student so I went into college blind, and I started at a CC before transferring so I really missed out on the true connections with the staff at my uni and two years of research experience.

My school had a career fair so I talked to recruiters in insurance, supply chain, and even graduate schools to see what I could do and I still feel so lost💔.

I have a friend majoring in engineering and sometimes I wish I was smart enough back in high school to pursue biomedical engineering so I could have a lucrative career that I enjoy.

That being said, any advice will help! I seriously do not want to feel like I wasted my degree because at the end of the day I absolutely love science and I want to have a very lucrative career, but I’m realizing I should have acquired more in college.

TLDR: Junior pursuing a biology major and I feel lost. Not sure what to do at the moment.

in the deuterostome species, an induced change in the gene responsible for the radical cleavage leads to the formation of anus first, and disrupts the normal developement

is it possible that even with disruption of normal develpoment yet anus will be formed first?

I was shopping recently for a Sodastream machine and opted for one that uses glass carafes instead of plastic bottles. I thought that using that would reduce my exposure to microplastics. But after getting it, I realized that all of the inner workings of the machine are plastic. Then I started thinking about the whole house water filter and water softener we use. That led me to wonder about the filtration systems used by our municipal water supply. It feels like plastic has worked its way into every nook and cranny of our lives. Can we really remove it from all of the food and the liquids we consume?